The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) was an industry

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

of computer hardware manufacturers from 1989 to 2009. Starting with the PCMCIA card in 1990 (the name later simplified to ''PC Card''), it created various standards for peripheral interfaces designed for

laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

computers.

History

PCMCIA was based on the original initiative of the British mathematician and computer scientist Ian H. S. Cullimore, one of the founders of the Sunnyvale-based Poqet Computer Corporation, who was seeking to integrate some kind of

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices, such as digital cameras as well as in many early games conso ...

technology as storage medium into their early DOS-based

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s, when traditional floppy drives and harddisks were found to be too power-hungry and large to fit into their battery-powered handheld devices. When in July 1989, Poqet contacted Fujitsu for their existing but still non-standardized SRAM memory cards, and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

for their flash technology, the necessity and potential of establishing a worldwide memory card standard became obvious to the parties involved. This led to the foundation of the PCMCIA organization in September 1989. By early 1990, some thirty companies had joined the initiative already, including Poqet, Fujitsu, Intel,

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, Lotus,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

and SCM Microsystems (now Identiv). From 1990 onwards, the association published and maintained a sequence of standards for

parallel communication In data transmission, parallel communication is a method of conveying multiple binary digits ( bits) simultaneously using multiple conductors. This contrasts with serial communication, which conveys only a single bit at a time; this distinction ...

peripheral interfaces in

computers, notably the PCMCIA card, later renamed to

PC Card PC Card is a technical standard specifying an expansion card interface for laptops and personal digital assistants, PDAs. The PCMCIA originally introduced the 16-bit Industry Standard Architecture, ISA-based PCMCIA Card in 1990, but renamed it to ...

, and succeeded by

ExpressCard ExpressCard, initially called NEWCARD, is an interface to connect peripheral, peripheral devices to a computer, usually a laptop, laptop computer. The ExpressCard technical standard specifies the design of slots built into the computer and of expa ...

(2003), all of them now technologically obsolete. The PCMCIA association was dissolved in 2009 and all of its activities have since been managed by the

USB Implementers Forum USB Implementers Forum, Inc. (USB-IF) is a nonprofit organization created to promote and maintain USB (Universal Serial Bus), a set of specifications and transmission procedures for a type of cable connection that has since become used widely fo ...

, according to the PCMCIA website. As of 2023, PCMCIA is now little used in new hardware, with most removable devices using USB instead. The

Linux kernel The Linux kernel is a Free and open-source software, free and open source Unix-like kernel (operating system), kernel that is used in many computer systems worldwide. The kernel was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991 and was soon adopted as the k ...

project is now moving toward removing obsolete PCMCIA drivers from the mainline kernel.

Name

PCMCIA stands for ''Personal Computer Memory Card International Association'', the group of companies that defined the standard. It has been described 'probably one of the most mocked acronyms of the industry'. This acronym was difficult to say and remember, and was sometimes jokingly referred to as "People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms". To recognize increased scope beyond memory, and to aid in marketing, the association acquired the rights to the simpler term "

" from

. This was the name of the standard from version 2 of the specification onwards. These cards were used for

wireless networks A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks, and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables in ...

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

s, and other functions in notebook PCs.

References

External links

* {{authority control Solid-state computer storage media Motherboard PCMCIA Standards organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1989 Organizations disestablished in 2009 1989 establishments in the United States 2009 disestablishments in the United States Computer-related introductions in 1990 Technology consortia