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PCMCIA Announces NEWCARD Format

Posted by michael on from the that's-the-best-name-they-could-come-up-with dept.

schnoz writes "Found this over at DPReview: "The PCMCIA technology association has today announced the 'NEWCARD' format. This new format makes use of PC Card, PCI Express and USB 2.0 technologies. The NEWCARD format is also aimed at both Mobile and Desktop PCs". Check out the rest of the article here."

9 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Cheaper by twemperor · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I suppose repackaging existing technology in yet another form factor is a more cost effective product development plan...

  2. Re:A bit short on the info, long on the ass kissin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Umm, well it IS just a press release, so...

  3. It's not the size, but how you lose it by Kaz+Riprock · · Score: 5, Insightful


    No, that's not a typo. The picture shows how this thing is barely bigger than a pair of quarters edge-to-edge. Great. You know how often I lose change?

    There's a certain advantage to having small media/cards/devices. For example, having a 128 MB SD disk in my digicam is nice. I don't have to have a backpack to store more than 100 pictures at a time. But some of these things aren't even big enough to fit your initials on them, let alone some sort of recovery info if you *were* to lose what amounts to not much more in size than pocket lint.

    It's nice that I can take my entire mp3 collection anywhere I want to go in a thimble. That's a real advance in computer technology. But are these guys banking on the idea that I'll lose one out of every 10 to 20 of these things that I'll buy?

    I hope any NEWCARDs that I might need or buy come with a carrying case that's about as big as a floppy or CD. I'm still finding jelly beans, pen caps, and AA batteries under the furniture that have probably been there since Reagan was in office....oh..there's my entire work portfolio...

    --
    Mordor...a magical, mythical land where women are more rare than dragons--but where every man would rather find a dragon
    1. Re:It's not the size, but how you lose it by kfg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Everything has an ideal size. For portable computer devices it's about the size of a 3 1/2" floppy.

      That's the real reason they became popular, and have refused to die off. It has nothing to do with technical merits or storage capacities. They're simply the *exact* right size and thickness for comfortable human handling.

      Big enough to hold onto. Thick enough not to fold or break. Small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The media itself protected by a shell.

      CD's fit none of these parameters. Mini disks would if you didn't have to worry about scratching them.

      You don't need the smallest card possible, you need the *right* sized card.

      KFG

  4. Re:Card-based computer by Ducky · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've always wanted something like this. PCI is nice, but the whole edge card + screw mounting design carried over from the ISA days always bothered me. Not necessarily PCMCIA, but some end-user friendly form factor that I wouldn't need a static bag and a screew driver for.

    The problem with PCMCIA is it's slow compared to PCI and AGP. It was designed for reduced size, not raw performace. But a PCMCIA based machine would at least be a start.

    Hard drives are just now starting to lose the ribbon cable in consumer models (Serial ATA), so I'm not going to hold my breath or anything for something only the 2 of us want. =D

    -Ducky
  5. Re:A bit short on the info, long on the ass kissin by Dr.Enormous · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Never trust a press release that uses "leverage" as a verb three times in less than a page. Unless it's a press release about levers.

  6. Re:Why USB 2.0: such a slow standard? by g4dget · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Probably for the same reason why you aren't driving a Formula 1 race car to work: it's not necessary, and it's not cost effective.

    In different words, with PCI, they have communications at bus-speed covered for the few applications that need it. But for almost all PCMCIA applications (networks, modems, storage, etc.), USB 2.0 is already much faster than what is needed. And USB 2.0 is cheaper and more widely supported than any serial bus alternative.

  7. Great just what we need.... by los+furtive · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...more dongles in our future. Most if not all recent laptops have built in 10/100 ethernet and 56K modem, as well as USB/firewire ports...there is less and less need for PCMCIA/PCCards of any size at all.

    --

    I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.

  8. So, is it just me... by tlambert · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So, is it just me, or have they failed once again to put the ejection under software control so the pig can have it's driver's detached and the hardware powered down, FS's unmounted, etc., before the thing disappears out from under the OS?

    Way to go... we're back at the same place PCMCIA was back in 1994, yet again. 8-(.

    -- Terry