Editing PCMCIA

{{about|the industry body|the PCMCIA card format|PC Card}}
{{short description|Computing industry body}}
{{Infobox company
| name=Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
| logo=Personal Computer Memory Card International Association logo.svg
| founded={{start date and age|1989}}
| founder=[[Ian Cullimore|Ian H. S. Cullimore]]
| defunct={{end date and age|2009}}
| fate=Dissolved
| products=[[Technical specifications]] of the [[PC Card]] and [[ExpressCard]]
| type=[[Not-for-profit organization|Non-profit]] industry [[consortium]]
| successor=[[USB Implementers Forum]]
| website={{archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225064415/http://pcmcia.org/|title=pcmcia.org}}
}}
The '''Personal Computer Memory Card International Association''' ('''PCMCIA''') was an industry [[consortium]] of [[List of computer hardware manufacturers|computer hardware manufacturers]] from 1989 to 2009. Starting with the [[PC Card|PCMCIA card]] in 1990 (the name later simplified to ''PC Card''), it created various standards for peripheral interfaces designed for [[laptop]] computers.

== History ==

PCMCIA was based on the original initiative of the British mathematician and computer scientist [[Ian Cullimore|Ian H. S. Cullimore]],<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> one of the founders of the [[Sunnyvale, California|Sunnyvale]]-based [[Poqet Computer Corporation]],<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/> who was seeking to integrate some kind of [[memory card]] technology as storage medium into their early [[DOS]]-based [[palmtop PC]]s,<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/> when traditional floppy drives and harddisks were found to be too power-hungry and large to fit into their battery-powered handheld devices.<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/> When in July 1989,<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/> Poqet contacted [[Fujitsu]] for their existing but still non-standardized [[Static random-access memory|SRAM]] memory cards, and [[Intel]] for their [[flash memory|flash]] technology,<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/> 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.<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/><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>

By early 1990, some thirty companies had joined the initiative already, including Poqet, Fujitsu, Intel, [[Mitsubishi]], [[IBM]], [[Lotus Development Corporation|Lotus]], [[Microsoft]] and <!-- the German -->[[SCM Microsystems]] (now [[Identiv]]).<ref name="Strass_1994_PCMCIA"/>

From 1990 onwards, the association published and maintained a sequence of standards for  [[parallel communication]] peripheral interfaces in [[laptop]] computers, notably the PCMCIA card, later renamed to [[PC Card]], and succeeded by [[ExpressCard]] (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]], according to the PCMCIA website.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.usb.org/press/USB_IF_01212010.pdf | title=USB-IF Announces Intent to Acquire PCMCIA Assets | editor=USB Implementers Forum | access-date=2016-08-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121938/http://www.usb.org/press/USB_IF_01212010.pdf | archive-date=2016-03-04 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

As of 2023, PCMCIA is now little used in new hardware, with most removable devices using USB instead. The [[Linux kernel]] project is now moving toward removing obsolete PCMCIA drivers from the mainline kernel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Larabel |first=Michael |date=2023-03-11 |title=Linux 6.4 Slated To Start Removing Old, Unused & Unmaintained PCMCIA Drivers |url=https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.4-PCMCIA-Char-Dropping |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=www.phoronix.com |language=en}}</ref>

==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'.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1997-09-16 |title=CardBus readiness remains big question for notebooks |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/211478/cardbus-readiness-remains-big-question-notebooks |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en}}</ref> This acronym was difficult to say and remember, and was sometimes jokingly referred to as "People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms".<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Clark | first1 = Scott H | last2 = Norton | first2 = Peter | title = Peter Norton's new Inside the PC | publisher = SAMS | location = Indianapolis | year = 2002 | page = [https://archive.org/details/peternortonsnewi00pete/page/33 33] | isbn = 0-672-32289-7 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/peternortonsnewi00pete/page/33 }}</ref> 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]], [[modem]]s, and other functions in notebook PCs.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225064415/http://pcmcia.org/|title=Official website}}

{{memory cards}}
{{computer bus}}

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[[Category:Solid-state computer storage media]]
[[Category:Motherboard]]
[[Category:PCMCIA]]
[[Category:Standards organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1989]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 2009]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:2009 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1990]]
[[Category:Technology consortia]]