NABU RetroNET
A non-commercial project dedicated to restoring and preserving NABU PCs, Internet Adapter, Cloud CP/M, software, and the NABU Network.
What Is NABU?
(Natural Access to Bi-directional Utilities)
A personal home computer was released to consumers in 1982 to connect families and businesses on a worldwide network.
Founded in Ottawa, Canada, in 1982, families and schools used cable TV modems to connect NABU PCs to a country-wide network. In addition to standard PC capabilities, the NABU computer could download software and information content through the cable feed. Applications included games, programming languages, and news.
Community
Advisory
To us, collecting and experiencing vintage computers is a hobby pastime. But to a select few, it is an opportunity to scam and steal from innocent collectors like yourself.
NABU.CA has no relationship with the criminal and scamming activity of Sean (Geek with Social Skills) from nabunetwork.com. If you have contact with anyone associated with him or his group, we advise that you proceed with caution.
- Don't Mess With Retro 1
- Don't Mess With Retro 2
- Reddit Discussion
- Commodore 4 Ever
- Google Group
- The Coleco Chameleon
- Facebook Group
- Very Lengthy and Detailed Vid
The Internet Before The Internet
The NABU PC was said to be ahead of its time, as described as the internet, before the internet. Although the initial release was not bi-direction, for the users who experienced it, it was a glimpse into the future. Only limited by the Television Cable infrastructure, whose amplifiers did not allow bidirectional transmission, the NABU was limited to downloading files from a looping broadcast of applications.
NABU servers broadcasted a "Cycle" of applications, including the DOS (downloadable operating system). At the time, other consoles on the market were limited by read-only ROM chips that hosted subroutines that programmers used to make the hardware more accessible. These subroutines were built into the chip in the hardware and could never be improved or altered.
The NABU, however, downloaded the IOS, the operating system containing the programmer subroutines from the server over the television cable connection. Downloading the content allowed NABU computer owners to experience real-time bug fixes, updates, and new software.
NABU Preservation Project
DJ Sures and Leo Binkowski founded the NABU Preservation Project to restore the original NABU Network with software emulation and continue software development in the direction planned by the original company's initiatives - an entertainment networked family computer system.
Because the original NABU PC was designed to be connected to a network, the preservation project is continuing development with that objective in mind. By adding features such as Cloud CPM, Chat, and Telnet, now NABU Computers can connect to other computers over the internet.
This was the ultimate dream of the NABU Corporation in 1981 when they ventured into the home computing market with the NABU Personal Computer.
Experience NABU
This website is home to the first & official NABU Internet Adapter software. This software emulates the NABU Network Adapter, which would have been the hardware used to connect NABU Personal Computers to the NABU Network.
The NABU Internet Adapter provides entertainment channels, such as the original NABU Network from 1984 and new homebrew software, demos and utilities.