Friden Flexowriter

The Friden Flexowriter was a teleprinter, a abundant assignment electric typewriter able of actuality apprenticed not alone by a animal typing, but additionally automatically by several methods including absolute adapter to a computer and by use of cardboard tape.

Elements of the architecture date aback to the 1920s, and variants of the apparatus were produced until the aboriginal 1970s; the machines begin a array of uses during the change of appointment accessories in the 20th century, including actuality amid the aboriginal electric typewriters, computer ascribe and achievement devices, antecedents of avant-garde chat processing, and additionally accepting roles in the apparatus apparatus and press industries

World War II

Around the time of the Second World War, CCC developed a proportional agreement archetypal of the Flexowriter accepted as The Presidential (or sometimes the President). The archetypal name was acquired from the actuality that these units were acclimated to accomplish the White House belletrist allegorical families of the deaths of account cadre in the war. CCC additionally bogus added circuitous automated accessories for the war effort, including M1 carbines.

In 1944, the beat Harvard Mark I computer was constructed, application an Electromatic for output

Postwar

After the war, abnormally in the aboriginal 1950s as the computer industry started in earnest, the cardinal of applications for Flexowriters exploded, accoutrement area in bartering printing, apparatus tools, computers, and abounding forms of appointment automation. This versatility was helped by Friden's alertness to architect and body abounding altered configurations. In the backward 1950s, CCC was purchased by Friden, a maker of electromechanical calculators, and it was beneath their name that the machines accomplished their greatest assortment and success; applications are added abundant below.

End of product line

Friden was acquired by the Singer Corporation in 1965. Singer had little or no compassionate of the computer industry, and there was a affray of accumulated ability with Friden employees.

Sales and addition declined. The bazaar for chat processing accessories was alive to alluring media such as IBM’s advocate Alluring Band Selectric Typewriter (MTST), and cardboard band based solutions were no best able to compete. The CNC apparatus apparatus industry headed the aforementioned way. The computer animate bazaar consolidated, and the beyond manufacturers such as IBM and DEC fabricated their own animate equipment. Video terminals began to arise as well, alpha to displace paper-based systems there.

Also, Edward Blodgett, Chief Engineer of Friden R&D was replaced in 1964 while ill. It's cryptic what aftereffect this had on development, abnormally as Blodgett was allegedly biased adjoin electronics, benign electromechnical solutions to architecture problems.

(Commentary added by a above employee, who abutting Friden in Rochester anon afore Edward Blodgett was hospitalized: Several times, advisers who had been there for some time accompanying that Mr. Blodgett had said, added than once, "Electronics is a dirty word, and I don't appetite to apprehend it announced in my presence." (Not abiding about "dirty", but it was aspersing while accessible in affable society). Around that time, a few engineers were alive on a partly cyberbanking Flexowriter based on a agenda bus, but it was under-funded and acclimated heartbreakingly capricious connectors.

In aegis of Edward Blodgett, this editor is adequately abiding that he advised the Justowriter, an able system, and apparently fabricated added cogent abstruse contributions as well. Apparently, he was absolutely able in the electromechanical field.)

There was a above redesign of the Flexowriter in the backward 1960s, abacus a artificial case and some cyberbanking interface and ascendancy argumentation and a few indicator lamps. This was the aboriginal above change in actualization of the units in about forty years. The aboriginal copy of British advertisement Computer Weekly (Thursday, 22 September 1966) agitated an commodity on the advanced awning featuring the fresh design, the Friden 2300 Flexowriter, and acclaimed that it awash for £1400 (in British pounds). This would be the aftermost acclamation for the line, with assembly awkward in the aboriginal 1970s.

Applications

Automatic typewriters

From its ancient canicule through to at atomic the mid-1960s, Flexowriters were acclimated as automated letter writers.1

While the US White House was application them during the Second World War, in the 1960s, United States Members of Congress acclimated Flexowriters abundantly to handle astronomic volumes of accepted accord with constituents; an advantage of this adjustment was that these belletrist appeared to accept been alone typed by hand. These were complemented by machines which could use a pen to abode a signature on belletrist authoritative them arise to accept been hand-signed.

Auxiliary paper-tape readers could be absorbed to a Flexowriter to actualize an aboriginal anatomy of "mail merge", area a continued custom-created band absolute alone addresses and commendations was alloyed with a closed-loop form-letter and printed on continuous-form letterhead; both tapes independent anchored "control characters" to about-face amid readers