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PCMCIA Announces NEWCARD Format
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."
Is it just me, or did that article seem to be more toward executives who want to see their companies name than people who want to know what is going on? While I see a bunch of stuff about how this will "revolutionize" the industry, I could just barely get the info on what IT actually was. It would have been nice to actually see some info like how this USB2/PCMCIA/PCI connection is going to work or what it will look like? Is it something where you buy an adapter cable depending on which of the three you're plugging it into?
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
PCMCIA is ISA. Cardbus is PCI.
I think I head it was People Can't Memorize Complicated Industry Acronyms?
Any want to confirm/correct this?
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
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.
Guh, read the first sentence, self.
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.
It's been one of those days, sorry.
One of those days where you miss entire words in sentences, yes.
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the strongest word is still the word "free"
Typical press release doubletalk. Based on the "single-wide" (which implies double-wide) and the quotes which refer to two cards in the same form factor as one PCMCIA, I'd bet a dollar or two that:
1) NEWCARD is simply specs for a new version of PCMCIA that allows for two NEWCARDs in the place of one PCMCIA. This allows notebook manufactures to keep their dies the same and just swap out the card bay. If they get cute, they might even be able to make a hybrid version that takes either 1 old or 2 new cards--depends on connector pinouts).
2) Since they will be restricted in connector pin space, they're using a USB2.0 serial bus for communication rather than PCMCIAs parallel bus/bizarre IDE disk protocol. Fewer pins, better reliability and speed.
3) This is nothing more than a packaging standard. PCMCIA is just worried about impingement from Compact Flash cards for network/serial/bluetooth/everything else. Note the emphasis on "mobile" computing. Subtext: don't buy Flash, we're better.
4) (Personal opinion). Unclear to me why they'd trumpet any sort of connection to USB, given the incredibly bad compatibility story it has.
IBM once made a PCMCIA-based desktop computer, the PS/2E, which was basically a Thinkpad built into a pizza box chassis. The machine was designed as a "green computer", meaning that it'd consume as little power as possible. It came with four PCMCIA slots built into the back, but the rest was pretty middle-of-the-road: XGA2 graphics, 486SLC2 processor, and an IDE disk interface. As you might imagine, they didn't sell too well.
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
Good summary from the BBC
Techie details from EE Times
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.