Editing Memory card (section)

== History ==
The basis for memory card technology is [[flash memory]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Micheloni |first1=Rino |last2=Crippa |first2=Luca |last3=Marelli |first3=Alessia |title=Inside NAND Flash Memories |date=2010 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9789048194315 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vaq11vKwo_kC&pg=PA2 |language=en}}</ref> It was invented by [[Fujio Masuoka]] at [[Toshiba]] in 1980<ref>{{cite web |last=Fulford |first=Benjamin |title=Unsung Hero |work=Forbes |date=24 June 2002 |access-date=18 March 2008 |url=https://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0624/030.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303205125/http://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0624/030.html |archive-date=3 March 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{patent|US|4531203|Fujio Masuoka}}</ref> and commercialized by Toshiba in 1987.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=1987: Toshiba Launches NAND Flash |url=https://www.eweek.com/storage/1987-toshiba-launches-nand-flash |website=[[eWeek]] |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1971: Reusable Semiconductor ROM Introduced |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/reusable-semiconductor-rom-introduced/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref>

The development of memory cards was driven in the 1980s by the need for an alternative to floppy disk drives that had lower power consumption, had less weight and occupied less volume in laptops. Some were also marketed as a lower cost alternative to [[ROM cartridge]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/WhatMSX/What%20MSX%3F%20Vol1%20No4%201985%20Winter/page/n5/mode/1up?q=%22Bright+alternative+to+cartridges%22|title=What MSX? (GB)|date=1985|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Several competing and incompatible memory card formats were developed by several vendors,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=japanese+computer+card+jeida&pg=PA25|magazine=InfoWorld|author=<!-- not stated -->|title=In The Cards|page=25|date=February 5, 1990|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|via=Google Books}}</ref> such as for example the [[Bee Card (game cartridge)|Bee Card]], Astron SoftCards,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/MSXComputing/MSX%20Computing%201985-12/page/n21/mode/1up?q=Astron+SoftCard|title=MSX Computing (GB) : Haymarket Publishing : Free Download, Borrow, And Streaming : Internet Archive|date=1984 }}</ref> Sega Cards, [[NEC UltraLite]] memory cards,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Machrone |first=Bill |date=November 15, 1988 |title=NEC's 4.4-Pound UltraLite Sets a New Standard for Portable Machines |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFs-_3jT-5kC |website=PC Magazine |publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc. |pages=33, 35}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%2260-pin%22+memory+card&pg=PA21|magazine=InfoWorld|first=Patrick|last=Dryden|title=Vendors Move to Set IC Card Standards|page=21|date=October 30, 1989|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|via=Google Books}}</ref> and the Mitsubishi Melcard which came in variants using 60 and 50 connector pins. The [[Sega Card]] was developed as a cheaper alternative to game cartridges.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DbFxAgAAQBAJ&dq=sega+card+cheaper&pg=PA17|title=Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition|first1=Sam|last1=Pettus|first2=David|last2=Munoz|first3=Kevin|last3=Williams|first4=Ivan|last4=Barroso|date=December 20, 2013|publisher=Smashwords Edition|isbn=978-1-311-08082-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Some memory cards were used for memory expansion in laptops.<ref>http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mitsubishi/Mitsubishi_VLSI_MOS_Memory_RAM_ROM_and_Memory_Cards_Jan91.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LpkFEO2FG8sC&dq=1987+memory+card&pg=PA321|magazine=PC Magazine|first=Winn|last=Rosch|title=PCMCIA: The Expansion System of the Future|page=321|date=January 26, 1993|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNnvbyOKioEC&dq=PCMCIA+september+1989&pg=PA14|title=PCMCIA System Architecture: 16-Bit PC Cards|first1=Don|last1=Anderson|date=January 25, 1995|publisher=Addison-Wesley Professional|isbn=978-0-201-40991-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

JEIDA, the [[Japan Electronic Industry Development Association]], began to work on a standard for memory cards in 1985, and developed the [[JEIDA memory card]] in 1986.<ref>https://www.cqpub.co.jp/hanbai/books/49/49971/49971_1syo.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref>
The [[Personal Computer Memory Card International Association]] (PCMCIA) was an industry association created in 1989 to promote a standard for memory cards in PCs, and worked closely with JEIDA, adopting their 68 pin connector design. The specification for PCMCIA type I cards, later renamed [[PC Card]]s, was first released in 1990, and unified the JEIDA memory card standard with the PC Card standard.<ref name="auto2" /><ref name="auto3">{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2Fa5SDi0G8C&dq=PCMCIA+september+1989&pg=PA264|magazine=PC Magazine|first=Oliver|last=Rist|title=PCMCIA: An Inside Look|page=264|date=December 21, 1993|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|via=Google Books}}</ref> This format later included support for other devices besides memory cards.<ref 
name="auto3" /> PC Card was among the first commercial memory card formats to come out, but is mainly used in industrial applications and to connect I/O devices such as [[modem]]s.

Some early memory cards used [[Static random-access memory|SRAM]] as a storage medium, which required a lithium battery to keep the contents in the SRAM. These cards were faster than their flash counterparts. Some of the first PCMCIA cards had capacities of 1 to 5&nbsp;MB and cost US$100 per MB.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2Fa5SDi0G8C&dq=memory+cards+SRAM+battery&pg=PA270|magazine=PC Magazine|first=Nick|last=Stam|title=PCMCIA's System Architecture|page=270|date=December 21, 1993|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.|via=Google Books}}</ref> Other early cards such as the Bee Card contained non-modifiable [[ROM]], [[Write once read many]] [[EPROM]] or rewriteable [[EEPROM]] memory.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/WhatMSX/What%20MSX%3F%20Vol1%20No3%201985%20Autumn/page/n5/mode/1up?q=%22bee+cards%22 | title=What MSX? (GB) | date=1984 }}</ref> In 1992, [[SanDisk]] introduced FlashDisk, a PCMCIA card and one of the first memory cards that did not require battery power to retain its contents, as it used flash memory.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/25-years-of-compactflash-a-look-back-at-the-pioneering-format|title=25 Years of CompactFlash: A Look Back at the Pioneering Format|website=PCMAG}}</ref><ref name="auto1" />

In 1994, memory card formats smaller than the PC Card arrived. The first one was [[CompactFlash]] and later [[SmartMedia]] and [[Miniature Card]]. The desire for smaller cards for cell-phones, [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]]s, and [[compact digital camera]]s drove a trend that left the previous generation of "compact" cards looking big. In 2000 the SD card was announced. SD was envisioned as a single memory card format for several kinds of electronic devices, that could also function as an expansion slot for adding new capabilities for a device.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VW7ZIgUJwSMC&dq=64mb+sd+card+second+quarter+2000&pg=PA90|title=Popular Science|first=Bonnier|last=Corporation|date=May 27, 2000|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 2001, SmartMedia alone captured 50% of the digital camera market and CF had captured the professional digital camera market.

However, by 2005, SD and similar MMC cards had nearly taken over SmartMedia's spot, though not to the same level and with stiff competition coming from Memory Stick variants, as well as CompactFlash. In industrial and embedded fields, even the venerable PC card (PCMCIA) memory cards still manage to maintain a [[niche market|niche]], while in mobile phones and PDAs, the memory card has become smaller.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Initially memory cards were expensive, costing US$3 per megabyte of capacity in 2001;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,37844,00.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010608150545/https://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,37844,00.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 8, 2001|title=PCWorld.com – DataPlay Shows Breakthrough in Storage Media|date=June 8, 2001}}</ref> this led to the development of miniaturized rotating disk memory devices such as the [[Microdrive]], [[PocketZip]] and [[Dataplay]]. The Microdrive had higher capacities than memory cards at the time. All three concepts became obsolete once flash memory prices became lower and their capacities became higher by 2006.<ref name="auto" />

New products of Sony (previously only using Memory Stick) and Olympus (previously only using XD-Card) have been offered with an additional SD-Card slot beginning in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |last=Grunin |first=Lori |url=http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10426683-269.html |title=Sony Does SD; Panasonic Intros First SDXC Cards &#124; 2010 CES&nbsp;— CNET Blogs |publisher=Ces.cnet.com |date=2010-01-06 |access-date=2013-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324061005/http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10426683-269.html |archive-date=2010-03-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Effectively the [[format war]] has turned in SD-Card's favor.<ref name="formatkrieg1">[https://archive.today/20121209113820/http://www.chip.de/news/Format-Krieg-entschieden-SD-Card-setzt-sich-durch_40751686.html "Format-Krieg entschieden: SD-Card setzt sich durch"] (''"format-war resolved: SD-card prevails"''), Chip-online, 14. January 2010</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140116213125/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34850031/ "Camera trends come into focus for 2010"], NBC News, 13. January.2010 ''"As much as the storage-format war cleared up a bit with Sony announcing that it would support SD and SDHC cards ..."''</ref><ref>[http://www.marketnews.ca/LatestNewsHeadlines/FEATURE:PlayingYourCardsRightatRetail.html "FEATURE: Playing Your Cards Right at Retail"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617153237/http://www.marketnews.ca/LatestNewsHeadlines/FEATURE:PlayingYourCardsRightatRetail.html |date=2013-06-17 }}, Peter K. Burian, 4. June 2010. ''"Some industry observers have suggested that this development signals an end to the 'format war,' ..."''</ref>

{{See also|SD card#Markets}}