Friden Flexowriter - Definition and Overview

The Friden Flexowriter was a teleprinter based on a 1940s IBM product that was spun off as an independent company and later sold to the Friden Corp. It could punch and read 6-bit paper tape. Unlike teletype machines that use the 5-bit Baudot code, the Flexowriter had upper and lower case characters. Because of this and the better quality printing produced by its IBM-designed typewriter mechanism, the Flexowriter could be used by itself to automate the production of office documents such as form letters.

The Flexowriter was also used as an input/output device for some early computers, such as the Librascope LGP-30 and the DEC PDP-1. It was also used instead of a key punch for off-line program and data entry.

See Also

• Expensive Typewriter
• TECO
• PDP-1

External links

• Photo and more information (http://www.blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/friden/)
• Discussion of Flexowriter code conversion with link to code chart (http://www.science.uva.nl/faculteit/museum/X1flex.html)