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- #FRIDEN CALCULATOR HISTORY PATCH#
- #FRIDEN CALCULATOR HISTORY PLUS#
- #FRIDEN CALCULATOR HISTORY SERIES#
Sequences were identified with a one-character label that was itself coded in an instruction at the beginning of the sequence, and there was a way to execute a particular sequence by selecting that letter on the Flexowriter.
#FRIDEN CALCULATOR HISTORY SERIES#
"Sequences" were just that: a series of instructions to be executed one after another. Instructions were such things as, "Load register 23 into the accumulator", "Add register 17 to accumulator, "Store accumulator to register 54", "Read number from keyboard", or "Print number (or character) on typewriter."Ī program consisted of a set of "sequences" of these instructions. Instructions consisted of a single letter "op code" and an operand. The program itself was written directly in machine language, but the 5610 machine language was similar to assembly language on other computers. It had a separate program store, which could be loaded from paper tape.
#FRIDEN CALCULATOR HISTORY PLUS#
Instead, it had an "accumulator" - or maybe it was a stack of 3-5 registers - that you did math with, plus 70 "memory registers" that could hold decimal numbers (8 digits left of decimal point, 6 to the right, as I recall). The 5610 processor "looked" like a calculator in that it had no generally addressable memory.
#FRIDEN CALCULATOR HISTORY PATCH#
In addition to the 5610, I also programmed older Singer/Friden machines (e.g., the 50, programmed with a wired patch panel), and the later model 5800, introduced in 1971 or 1972.įrom the programmer's perspective, I think the 5610 is best described as a high-end programmable calculator connected to an automatic typewriter (literally, a Friden 2205 Flexowriter, which was also sold as a stand-alone product). I was 16 in 1970, and had a summer job at Singer/Friden, leading to continued summer/part-time employment through the rest of my high school and undergraduate college years - working both for Singer Business Machines, and later at other companies with and for individuals I had met at Singer.
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This was the machine I programmed at my first paying job. Overall: 36 in x 58 1/2 in x 27 in 91.44 cm x 148.59 cm x 68.58 cm ID Numberġ979.0823 See more items in Work and Industry: Mechanisms Typewriters Computers & Business Machines Data Source The Computyper was marketed as a data processor for business use, automatically producing invoices, sales totals, product sales analysis, taxes, costs, profits, and special charges. The Flexowriter would produce a coded data tape that could be read by the Computyper to automate various business activities. The Flexowriter consists of an electric typewriter with paper tape reader and punch mechanism.
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The Flexowriter was also sold apart from the Friden 5610 as a teleprinter. This machine is actually two-in-one, the Friden 5610 Computyper and the 2205 Flexowriter. This Friden 5610 Computyper was manufactured by the Friden Division of the Singer Company around 1969.