The Multimedia Center of the Zagreb University Referral Center (MMC) was an institution which existed in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

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, from 1972 to 1995. MMC had a

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

HP 2000 Time-Sharing BASIC computer with 16 terminals which anybody was allowed to use completely free of charge.

History

MMC was founded by professor .

MMC activities

Day (08:00-20:00)

On weekdays the center was primarily used by secondary schools in Zagreb to introduce their pupils and teachers to IT by teaching them to program in elementary

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

. When not used as a classroom, the MMC was open to anybody to use the HP2000E completely free of charge. Over the lifetime of the MMC, more than 10,000 people benefited from learning practical computer basics in the center.

Night (20:00-08:00) and weekends

Outside working hours the access to the HP2000E computer was permitted to a small, self-selected group of enthusiasts. Many members of this group subsequently made successful careers in commercial computing.

MMC leadership

Branimir Makanec was succeeded as the head of MMC by Tatjana Carev-Maruna in 1983.

The end

In 1995, MMC closed down. The HP2000E computer was stored in the cellar of the School Museum in Zagreb. In 2009 HP2000E was reassembled and exhibited in the main exhibition area of the museum. In 2014 the computer was restored into almost complete working order. In 2019 it was exhibited in the School Museum as a part of the exhibition ''Galeb zove Orla''. As part of that exhibition a permanent "Virtual Multimedia Center" was established on the WEB, where it is possible to access the simulator of the HP2000 system, as well as to find additional documentation.

References

{{Reflist 1972 establishments in Croatia 1995 disestablishments in Croatia Organizations established in 1972 Organizations disestablished in 1995 Educational organizations based in Croatia Defunct organizations based in Croatia Information technology organizations based in Croatia Organizations based in Zagreb History of Zagreb