Editing PC Card (section)

== History ==
[[File:Accton-etherpocket-sp-parallel-port-ethernet-adapter.jpg|thumb|Parallel port Ethernet adapters were commonly used before PC Cards. This is an [[Accton Technology Corporation|Accton]] Etherpocket-SP [[parallel port]] Ethernet adapter ({{Circa|1990}}). Supports both coaxial ([[10BASE2]]) and twisted pair ([[10BASE-T]]) cables. Power is drawn from a [[PS/2 port]] passthrough cable.]]
Before the introduction of the PCMCIA card, the [[parallel port]] was commonly used for portable peripherals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2Fa5SDi0G8C&pg=PA279|first1=O. Ryan|last1=Tabibian|via=[[Google Books]]|publisher=[[PC Mag]]|title=What Did We Do Before PCMCIA?|date=21 December 1993 |page=279}}</ref>

The PCMCIA 1.0 card standard was published by the [[Personal Computer Memory Card International Association]] in November 1990 and was soon adopted by more than eighty vendors.<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA">{{Cite book|title=PCMCIA optimal nutzen|trans-title=Using PCMCIA optimally|first=Hermann|last=Strass|publisher=Franzis-Verlag GmbH, Poing|date=1994|isbn=3-7723-6652-X|id=9-783772-366529|language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Mielke_1997_PCCard">{{Cite book|title=PC-Card Anwender-Lösungen|trans-title=Solutions for PC Card users|first=Bernd|last=Mielke|publisher=Franzis-Verlag GmbH, Feldkirchen|date=1997|isbn=3-7723-4313-9|id=9-783772-343131|language=de}}</ref> It corresponds with the Japanese [[JEIDA memory card]] 4.0 standard.<ref name="Mielke_1997_PCCard" /> It was originally developed to support [[Memory card]]s.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2Fa5SDi0G8C&dq=PCMCIA+september+1989&pg=PA264 | title=Power and Potential - PCMCIA : An inside look |magazine=[[PC Mag]]|first=Oliver|last=Rist|volume=12|issue=22|page=263| date=21 December 1993|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

[[Intel]] authored the Exchangable Card Architecture (ExCA) specification, but later merged this into the PCMCIA.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2Fa5SDi0G8C&pg=PA269|magazine=[[PC Mag]]|page=269|title=PCMCIA's System Architecture|first1=Nick|last1=Stam|date=21 December 1993|volume=12|issue=22|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

[[SanDisk]] (operating at the time as "SunDisk") launched its PCMCIA card in October 1992. The company was the first to introduce a writeable [[Flash RAM]] card for the [[HP 95LX]] (an early MS-DOS pocket computer). These cards conformed to a supplemental PCMCIA-ATA standard that allowed them to appear as more conventional IDE hard drives to the 95LX or a PC. This had the advantage of raising the upper limit on capacity to the full 32&nbsp;MB available under DOS 3.22 on the 95LX.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.hpmuseum.net/pdf/TheHPPalmtopPaper_V2N1_60pgs_Jan-Feb93_OCR.pdf | title = HP Palmtop Paper | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160427102307/http://www.hpmuseum.net/pdf/TheHPPalmtopPaper_V2N1_60pgs_Jan-Feb93_OCR.pdf | archive-date = 2016-04-27 }}</ref>

[[New Media Corporation]] was one of the first companies established for the express purpose of manufacturing PC Cards; they became a major [[Original equipment manufacturer|OEM]] for laptop manufacturers such as [[Toshiba]] and [[Compaq]] for PC Card products.<ref name="juncture">{{cite journal | last=Lyster | first=Michael | date=October 30, 1995 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/211037385/ | title=Circuit board maker at critical juncture | journal=Orange County Business Journal | publisher=American City Business Journals | volume=18 | issue=44 | page=1 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> 

It soon became clear that the PCMCIA card standard needed expansion to support "smart" I/O cards to address the emerging need for fax, modem, LAN, harddisk and floppy disk cards.<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA" /> It also needed interrupt facilities and [[hot plugging]], which required the definition of new BIOS and operating system interfaces.<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA" /> This led to the introduction of release 2.0 of the PCMCIA standard and [[JEIDA 4.1]] in September 1991,<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA" /><ref name="Mielke_1997_PCCard" /> which saw corrections and expansion with Card Services (CS) in the PCMCIA 2.1 standard in November 1992.<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA" /><ref name="Mielke_1997_PCCard" />

To recognize increased scope beyond memory, and to aid in marketing, the association acquired the rights to the simpler term "PC Card" from [[IBM]]. This was the name of the standard from version 2 of the specification onwards. These cards were used for [[Wireless LAN|wireless networks]], modems, and other functions in notebook PCs.

After the release of [[PCIe]]-based [[ExpressCard]] in 2003, laptop manufacturers started to fit ExpressCard slots to new laptops instead of PC Card slots.