8 comments

  • geerlingguy 1 hour ago
    I was able to see the development card in person at VCF Midwest last year; it's a very neat project! The version he had at VCFMW was in a transparent plastic case[1], which looks even better than the IBM-inspired design of the one on this page.

    [1] https://youtu.be/hF0NKvmQmVA?t=47 (I couldn't find a good picture elsewhere)

    Edit - I found this video on his YouTube channel with more info (with the latest version of the card): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-04EoGlayY

  • riskable 1 hour ago
    For those who aren't aware what PCMCIA stands for: People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms
    • geerlingguy 1 hour ago
      If you want to refresh an old memory, it actually stands for "Personal Computer Memory Card International Association" but nobody knew that. And it was later called 'PC Card'... then there was the faster ExpressCard that wasn't backwards compatible.

      It was fun being able to expand your computer's IO capabilities by adding on a network card, modem, USB, FireWire, etc. with these modules. It's similar to Framework's little USB-C-based modules, though those modules are just too small for a lot of circuits without a very creative design.

      • simcop2387 1 hour ago
        My understanding (probably wrong) is that pcmcia was based off the ISA bus and then pc card updated to pci based and express card was pcie
        • tonyarkles 49 minutes ago
          Close! The PC Card rename was because people were confusing the name of the association with the specific form factor.

          PCMCIA and PC Card = ISA

          CardBus = PCI and ISA - slot was backwards compatible so you could use a PC Card in a CardBus slot

          ExpressCard = PCIe

    • scoot 1 hour ago
      "For those who have forgotten..."
  • netrap 18 minutes ago
    Awesome !!

    I have an old Thinkpad and had a similar idea for wifi, but I was thinking about MiniPCI.

    Emulating NE2000 is great :)

  • kfarr 11 minutes ago
    TIL the Newton had a PCMCIA slot!
  • klipklop 45 minutes ago
    A dream device for 486 and pentium laptop enthusiasts. Got in line to get one.
  • fallat 1 hour ago
    The RP2XXX microcontrollers are so incredible in terms of what it's opened to hobbyists. I hope microcontroller-based computers become a thing.
  • hoistbypetard 1 hour ago
    I love the IBM aesthetic on the card artwork.
  • vyr 30 minutes ago
    [dead]