# PC Card

> expansion card standard for laptop computers

**Wikidata**: [Q932506](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q932506)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/pc-card

## Summary
PC Card is an expansion card standard and form factor for laptop computers, published in 1990 by the PCMCIA standards body. It defines a removable peripheral interface that adds functionality to laptops (for example I/O, storage, or communications) and is also known as PCMCIA or CardBus.

## Key Facts
- PC Card is an expansion card standard and form factor for laptop computers, published in 1990.  
- Standards body: PCMCIA.  
- Instance of: interface standard and form factor.  
- Subclass of: peripheral and expansion card.  
- Followed by (successor): ExpressCard.  
- Based on: JEIDA memory card, Industry Standard Architecture, and Q191012.  
- Derivative work: CompactFlash.  
- Connects with / part of: laptop (used as a removable peripheral interface for laptops).  
- Common aliases: PCMCIA, PCMCIA card, CardBus, PC-Card, PCMCIA-Karte, Card Information Structure, ATAカード, カードバス, PCMCIAカード, AIMS仕様フラッシュメモリーカード.  
- Representative media: icon (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Human-gnome-dev-pcmcia.svg), logo (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/PC_Card_logo.svg), image (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/PCMCIA_Rückseite_5038.jpg).

## FAQs
### Q: What is a PC Card?
A: A PC Card is a removable expansion card standard and form factor for laptop computers that provides additional functionality such as input, output, storage, or communications. It is also referred to as PCMCIA or CardBus.

### Q: When was the PC Card standard published?
A: The PC Card standard was published in 1990 by the PCMCIA standards body.

### Q: What replaced the PC Card standard?
A: The PC Card standard was succeeded by the ExpressCard interface and form factor.

### Q: What standards or technologies is PC Card based on?
A: PC Card is based on the JEIDA memory card specification, the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), and Q191012.

## Why It Matters
PC Card provided a standardized, removable expansion interface tailored to laptop computers at a time when portable systems needed compact, hot‑pluggable ways to add networking, storage, and other capabilities. As an established form factor and interface standard, it allowed manufacturers and third parties to produce interoperable peripherals (modems, network adapters, storage add‑ons, and specialized cards) that could be easily swapped by users. The standardization reduced compatibility friction across different laptop models and helped define expectations for portable expansion. PC Card influenced later removable storage and interface designs — CompactFlash is cited as a derivative work — and the format’s role as a mainstream laptop expansion mechanism helped shape laptop peripheral ecosystems until newer interfaces (notably ExpressCard) replaced it. Its widespread aliases (PCMCIA, CardBus) and adoption in laptop designs make it a recognizable milestone in mobile computing hardware.

## Notable For
- Being the published 1990 laptop expansion card standard standardized by PCMCIA.  
- Serving as a widely used removable peripheral interface class for laptops (subclass of peripheral and expansion card).  
- Having direct technical roots in JEIDA memory card and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA).  
- Acting as an antecedent and influence on CompactFlash (listed as a derivative work).  
- Being succeeded by ExpressCard as the next mainstream laptop peripheral form factor.

## Body
### Overview
- PC Card is an expansion card standard and form factor specifically for laptop computers.  
- It defines a removable card interface used to add functionality to a laptop, including I/O, storage, and communications.  
- The standard is commonly called PCMCIA or CardBus in various contexts and languages.

### Publication and Standards
- Publication date: 1990.  
- Standards body: PCMCIA.  
- Instance types: interface standard; form factor.  
- Subclass relationships: peripheral; expansion card.

### Technical Basis and Lineage
- Based on JEIDA memory card specification.  
- Also based on Industry Standard Architecture (ISA).  
- References Q191012 as part of its technical lineage.  
- Derivative work: CompactFlash drew on PC Card concepts.

### Relationship to Other Standards
- Preceded/succeeded relationship: PC Card is followed by ExpressCard as the next major interface and form factor for laptop peripherals.  
- Related classes include CableCARD (digital cable smart card) and conditional-access module (content decryption key) in the broader ecosystem of removable card technologies.

### Usage and Integration
- Primary use: connects with laptops as a removable peripheral interface.  
- Categorized under peripherals and expansion cards, enabling vendors to produce interoperable hardware add‑ons for laptops.

### Aliases and Language Variants
- Common aliases include: PCMCIA, PCMCIA card, CardBus, PC-Card, PCMCIA-Karte, Card Information Structure, ATAカード, カードバス, PCMCIAカード, AIMS仕様フラッシュメモリーカード.  
- The entry has broad multilingual coverage (wikipedia_languages includes ar, bn, bs, ca, commons, cs, de, en, es, et).

### Media and Identifiers
- Icon: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Human-gnome-dev-pcmcia.svg  
- Logo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/PC_Card_logo.svg  
- Representative image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/PCMCIA_Rückseite_5038.jpg  
- Library of Congress authority ID: sh94006593.  
- Freebase identifier: /m/0gq6c.

### Legacy
- PC Card established a removable expansion paradigm in laptops and influenced subsequent card and flash memory designs.  
- Its successor, ExpressCard, replaced it as laptop I/O and expansion requirements evolved.

## Schema Markup
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  "@type": "Thing",
  "name": "PC Card",
  "description": "PC Card is an expansion card standard and form factor for laptop computers, published in 1990 by the PCMCIA standards body.",
  "image": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/PCMCIA_Rückseite_5038.jpg",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card"
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  "additionalType": "interface standard, form factor"
}

## References

1. [Source](https://github.com/JohnMarkOckerbloom/ftl/blob/master/data/wikimap)
2. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
3. National Library of Israel Names and Subjects Authority File
4. [OpenAlex](https://docs.openalex.org/download-snapshot/snapshot-data-format)