Multimedia Center, Zagreb, Croatia


The Multimedia Center of the Zagreb University Referral Center was an institution which existed in Zagreb, Croatia, from 1972 to 1995.
MMC had a Hewlett-Packard HP 2000 Time-Sharing BASIC computer with 16 terminals which anybody was allowed to use completely free of charge.

The beginning

MMC was the vision of the late Professor.
It was created by Branimir Makanec and his colleagues, Tatjana Carev-Maruna, Vjekoslav Pavić, Željko Reljić, Stjepan Rodek and Božidar Vrabić.
The center was situated in a building belonging to the University of Zagreb in the Republic of Croatia Square. The building housed the HP2000E computer and the terminals, as well as an interactive electronic classroom.
The HP2000E computer was purchased in 1972 for US$150,000 from Yugoslav state funds after a chance encounter between Branimir Makanec and a high ranking Yugoslav politician at a trade fair.

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. 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.