PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, was a group of computer hardware manufacturers, operating under that name from 1989 to 2009/2010. Starting with the eponymous PCMCIA card in 1990, it created various standards for peripheral interfaces designed for laptop computers. There is a IPC-6014 Qualification and Performance Specification for PCMCIA in PCB manufacturing industry.
In computing, PC Card is a configuration for computer parallel communication peripheral interface, designed for laptop computers. Originally introduced as PCMCIA, the PC Card standard as well as its successors like CardBus were defined and developed by the PCMCIA. If you’re familiar with expansion cards in desktop computers, you can think of a PCMCIA card as an expansion card for a laptop.
The most notable product developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, which provided expansion capabilities for laptops. The card could be inserted into a PCMCIA slot on the side of a laptop, providing additional memory or connectivity. There were three versions of the PC card standard:
- Type I – 3.3 mm thick – used for memory expansion
- Type II – 5.0 mm thick – most common; used for NICs (Ethernet cards), modems, and sound cards
- Type III – 3.3 mm thick – used for ATA hard drives
Larger PC card slots were backwards compatible with smaller cards. For example, a Type III slot could support Type 1, 2, and 3 cards and a Type II slot could support Type 1 and 2 cards.
In the 1990s, PC cards were a common means of adding extra functionality to laptops. But as laptop components became smaller, manufacturers were able to fit all the necessary components into their laptops, making PC cards unnecessary. Additionally, many peripherals that previously required a PCMICA card became available in USB versions. In the early 2000s, the trend towards thinner and lighter laptops eventually made PCMCIA cards obsolete.