CompuServe Thread

#PCMCIA ?

8 messages in this thread
#141652From: albert waltnerDec 13, 1994 5:28 PM
Sir Gary and/or Autodesk: Some of my thoughts lead me to speculate about future releases and fraud protection. Some people say that the PCMCIA interface which is ubiquitous on laptops will also spill over into desktop computers, partly because it will serve as a laptop connection but for other reasons also. Suggestion/thought: Publish 3DS as a PCMCIA ROM card. Thus 3DS would be loaded from ROM and the copy/fraud protection can be embedded without fear of messing up anything else such as the parallel port. I believe that a PCMCIA can be plugged/unplugged with power on. P.S. Maybe all this "noise" about the Pentium will give us some possible bargains <g>.
#141696From: Yost GroupDec 13, 1994 10:59 PM
Interesting thought, but are PCMCIA cards going to become THAT ubiquitous? – G
#141837From: albert waltnerDec 14, 1994 3:37 PM
>> …are PCMCIA cards going to become THAT ubiquitous? Every laptop (or PDA or whatever) has at least one. It is a perfect dynamic link, if power up plug/unplug is allowed as I have read. One can plug a local lan into a laptop temporarily or even reconfigure a desktop lan dynamically. It could even be used for data interchange with a service bureau (take in your external hard drive). PCMCIA is certainly getting wide support from the hardware suppliers as observed in the magazines. I might even suggest a desktop computer with nothing but PCI and PCMCIA bus connectors.
#141848From: Yost GroupDec 14, 1994 5:01 PM
I've never seen a desktop with a PCMCIA bus. Have you? – G
#141869From: John StetzerDec 14, 1994 6:40 PM
>>Have you? I've seen a device that takes up one drive space (like a floppy) that lets a user plug in PCMCIA cards; so far the only card I've seen in operation on it is a PCMCIA hard drive (I've only seen the setup in passing). John Stetzer JWS
#141900From: Yost GroupDec 14, 1994 9:59 PM
Ah ha. I've never seen one of those. – G
#141881From: Kevin C. GibsonDec 14, 1994 8:12 PM
I think I noticed one on Ken Kesey's desktop. <G> NeonRain <tm> 🙂
#141905From: albert waltnerDec 14, 1994 10:22 PM
Gary: >> I've never seen a desktop with a PCMCIA bus. Have you? No, I have not yet seen a desktop with included PCMCIA. But, as I mentioned, ALL the mobile stuff has at least one. As mentioned by another person, one can add a slot via a pseudo external floppy drive slot. When I first saw mention of PCMCIA, I thought someone had been smoking something called alsheimer weed. But the number of companies supporting PCMCIA as well as the range of products supported (easily seen in Computer Shopper, for example) has just plain astounded me. So I can see a desktop with some number of built in external PCMCIA slots. And motherboard makers seem to lag a little (some still have VESA slots <g>). But then I have been wrong before <g>.