Editing MECC (section)

=== Computing facilities ===
SUMITS, a [[UNIVAC 1100/2200 series|UNIVAC 1110]] mainframe was installed at the MECC facility at 1925 Sather (address later changed to 2520 Broadway Drive), next to Highway 280. A sturdy industrial building originally used for electrical maintenance, part of the building was already occupied by the University of Minnesota's Lauderdale computing facility. SUMITS was a [[batch processing]] system, albeit not a time-sharing system, and its performance failed to meet the terms of the contract. In 1977 it was replaced with a [[Control Data Corporation]] [[CDC Cyber|Cyber 73]] mainframe,{{r|lafrenz19950413}} known as the MECC Timesharing System (MTS). It became the largest such system for education in the world, with up to 448 simultaneous connections{{r|ota1982}} from up to 2,000{{r|ota1982}} terminals throughout the state, most of them [[Teletype Model 33]] teleprinters, connected at 110 and 300 [[baud]] through telephones by using acoustically coupled [[modem]]s. After several years most of the phone lines were replaced with direct circuits to schools across the state.

By 1982 MTS had more than 950 programs in its library.{{r|ota1982}} One of the most popular was ''[[The Oregon Trail (1975 video game)|The Oregon Trail]]'', originally written for the Minneapolis Public Schools' computer.{{r|lussenhop20110119}} Programming was the largest single use for MTS, with up to 45% of the system used for one of almost one dozen computer languages.{{r|ota1982}} To support its larger number of users&mdash;70 to 80% of all Minnesota public schools in 1981,{{r|mace19811207}} and available to 96% of Minnesota students from 7 am to 11 pm daily by 1982<ref name="ota1982">{{cite book | title=Informational technology and its impact on American education | author=Office of Technology Assessment | author-link=Office of Technology Assessment | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mi1hy_DYW_kC&q=mecc+apple&pg=PA214 | pages=214–218 | year=1982 | publisher=United States Government Printing Office | isbn=9781428928299}}</ref>&mdash;primarily using programs written in the [[BASIC]]{{r|lafrenz19950413}}<ref name="MECC BASIC Quick Ref. Card">{{cite web | title = MECC Quick Reference Guide for BASIC Language Version 3.1 | work = Former MECC User | url = http://www.peternelson.com/photos/albums//2008_01_MECC_QuickRef/Minnesota%20Educational%20Computing%20Consortium%20Quick%20Reference%20Guide%20for%20BASIC%20Language%20Version%203.1%20MECC%20TIMESHARE%20SYSTEM%20Rev.%202%20slash%2078.pdf | access-date = 2008-01-28}}</ref> language, both timesharing systems developed shared memory (MULTI) BASIC systems. Through this – and less efficient methods – multiuser programs and chat systems appeared in addition to electronic mail and BBS programs; some of these were derived from MERITSS programs.<ref name="MECCtimeline">{{cite web|author=Steve Taffee |title=MECC Timeline |work=MECC Alumni |url=http://geocities.com/meccalumni/Timeline.html |access-date=2007-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810141840/http://geocities.com/meccalumni/Timeline.html |archive-date=August 10, 2009 |url-status=unfit}}</ref>

While some of the ideas may have been derived from MERITSS, the multi programs were more efficient. The MERITSS chat program, even though it operated via fast access system files, could not match the efficiency of a MULTI chat program that copied the input/output into memory to be delivered to the user.

The University of Minnesota Computer Center (UCC as it was called then) rejected implementing MULTI due to concerns about system stability. UCC tried to retrofit the MULTI-mail program for its own use because of the good user interface, but it was not possible. They then tried again with an older fast access system file version, and while it worked, it was unreliable. After doing test runs with several other universities' mail programs, two developers at UCC implemented their own version, which also contained a message board feature, and was the campus-wide e-mail solution for a couple of years.