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Hardware

PCMCIA Announces NEWCARD Format 184

Posted by michael 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."
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PCMCIA Announces NEWCARD Format More

PCMCIA Announces NEWCARD Format

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  • Easy to lose as Memory Stick I'd prefer classic PCMCIA cards

  • A bit short on the info, long on the ass kissing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Michalson ( 638911 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:03PM (#5357471)
    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?

  • The photo (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Tri0de ( 182282 ) <dpreynld@pacbell.net> on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:05PM (#5357489) Journal
    shows a unit labled 'Single Wide'. I wonder what that implies for the future, and if it refers to physical size or data bus size

    • Re:The photo (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It is refering to form factor.
      No idea about PCI Express standards, but it is faster than your 6MHz 64-bit PCI bus for sure.

    • Re:The photo (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by User 956 ( 568564 )
      The shows a unit labled 'Single Wide'. I wonder what that implies for the future

      Not sure. Here's a double wide, though. [mindspring.com] You can pick one up today, for low, low prices.

    • Re:The photo (Score:3, Funny)

      by swordboy ( 472941 )
      The photo shows a unit labled 'Single Wide'. I wonder what that implies for the future

      Well, if it is anything like my 'Double Wide' [209.15.12.10], then the future isn't so bright...

      Seriously...

    • Re:The photo (Score:3, Informative)

      by Pulzar ( 81031 )
      It refers to data bus size. It's using a single PCI-Express lane for data transfer. If devices in the future require more bandwidth, more lanes can be added without much effort (first PCI-E graphics cards, for example, will be using a 16-lane bus which works in the exact same way.. except it has 16 lanes)

  • Cheaper (Score:1, Insightful)

    by twemperor ( 626154 )
    I suppose repackaging existing technology in yet another form factor is a more cost effective product development plan...
    • This is called Planned Obsolesence. Repackage, give it new name that implies modernity (like "New whatever." God these guys are doing it crudely) and rely on costomer dissatisfaction with owning something "old" to drive sales.

      Can you say "tailfins" and "Venti-ports"?

      I knew you could.

      KFG
      • umm, no in technology new packaging has a point, I don't think you'd like a laptop made with desktop components. I have one and they call it a luggable for a reason, it's basically luggage =) Small form factors allow portability and integration. For instance a full sized dim wouldn't work very well with my Digital Elph but CF cards are great.
        • Actually, yes, I would. I'm ready to retire my Compaq transportable 8088.

          No, I'm not joking about either.

          Besides, we're not talking about desktop cards. We're talking about cards that are already small and light enough to put a few of them in your shirt pocket and not even notice them.

          KFG

  • Card-based computer (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pyrosophy ( 259529 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:09PM (#5357515)
    I've always thought it would be really neat if someone could make a basically PCMCIA based computer. No PCI slots, no need to open up your computer -- just a slot in the front of the computer where you could insert a new card that gets automatically plugged in, enabling pre-existing ports on the back of one's box.

    Instead of having to make users deal with a modem PCI card, a network PCI card, sound card, etc, all they would need to do to upgrade is eject one of the old PCMCIA cards and load a new one like one loads a video tape.

    I'm not saying this would be easy or compatible with existing OSs, but it sure would be cool.

    • Re:Card-based computer (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Ducky ( 10802 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:21PM (#5357610) Homepage

      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

      • Re:Card-based computer (Score:5, Informative)

        by rcw-home ( 122017 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:24PM (#5357633)
        The problem with PCMCIA is it's slow compared to PCI and AGP.

        PCMCIA is ISA. Cardbus is PCI.

        • PCMCIA is ISA. Cardbus is PCI.

          Heh, brain-fart on that one, Thanks. I haven't had a laptop in a while - I've been using the smartphone + desktop arrangement for about 2 years. While I miss roaming around while at work, the keyboard attachment for the phone makes meetings bearable at least.

          Ok, so how about an AGP cardbus-like form factor. Actually, I'd settle for roughly the same size as the average vid card, just a friendlier package. =)

      • Cables break, pins can bend. Edge connectors are tried an tested reliable technology.

        Of course something like a ZIF socket might work, but you would need a reliable locking mechanism and motherboards that support hot plugging.

        I persoanlly would like to see PCI/AGP cards with the connector opposite the backplane, you could then design a system where you slide the cards in from the back of the PC.

        • Edge connectors are tried an tested reliable technology.

          Then why not do as Nintendo has done for years and put expansion boards in plastic packages?

          • Proably the cost of doing so and the heat expelled by many boards. A casual PC user never goes inside their PC.

            Nintendo's carts generally contain memory chips and a battery.
      • 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.

        I'm not disagreeing with you, but I think there are some pretty good reasons why PCMCIA hasn't taken over the desktop. The first is price: PCMCIA cards are smaller -- you usually pay for the form factor, and PCMCIA card costruction is generally more expensive, having housing and all. You always pay more for a PCMCIA peripheral than an internal PCI card, and I'd guess that the PCMCIA slot itself is more expensive to produce than a PCI slot.

        PCMCIA is slower (as has already been mentioned). If you need to hotswap peripherals, it makes sense to use PCMCIA... however, most desktops don't change configuration as much as your average laptop, where you have to swap PCMCIA cards, and this is usually only because you have a limited number of slots.

        What it boils down to is that the benefits of PCMCIA on a desktop system usually don't offset the extra cost.

    • Re:Card-based computer (Score:5, Informative)

      by infiniti99 ( 219973 ) <justin@affinix.com> on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:22PM (#5357612) Homepage
      Actually, I don't see why it wouldn't be compatible with current software. Most OSs already can handle hot-swapping of PCMCIA / USB devices, certainly they could easily handle an entire system of similar devices.

      I could swear I read something about an entirely card-based computer maybe 6 years ago. I remember retelling what I had read to friends over and over, about the possibility of easily installing all of your hardware by just sliding it into some external slot.

      Everytime I install hardware into current PCs, I always end up losing screws or cutting my hands on those metal spikes that line the bottom of PCI cards. If I dread installing hardware into my own PC, how could anyone expect normal folks like my mom to be able to do it? It's clear we have a long way to go. Everything should be as easy as PCMCIA.
    • I think they call those 'laptops.'
    • I don't see why anyone would add the ports without adding the hardware to use them, but otherwise, it's a good idea. PCMCIA-style devices in the back of a PC would make life easier for upgrades and the like.

      I'd love to be able to plug 6 or 7 PCMCIA cards in the back of a desktop, for example, and upgrade from 10 Mbit Ethernet to 100 Mbit without rebooting, or drop in a modem in an emergency. Some of these features wouldn't work very well with Type II cards, but a load of Type III slots would work wonderfully.

      Of course, the main issue is, as always, one of engineering. Bus speeds increase over time. PCMCIA can't handle anything close to 100Mbit/sec, so I've got a Cardbus Ethernet Adapter instead. Gigabit might eventually become an option, or Firewire 800, and then we'll need a new bus *anyway.*

      You'd need an expansion backplane to handle this properly, such that you would crack open the box, replace the backplane, and then you can support the next PCMCIA standard. Of course, ideas like this have been done before, and tend to fail miserably for consumers, if only because they're too expensive to implement.

      There are a handful of desktops that have had PCMCIA slots, though. DEC Multias come to mind, although I'm sure that there are others. It's a good concept, although it's apparently just not useful enough to take off.
    • I thought about something similar, but for the situation where you have a really slow PC with no RAM at work. You could take your CPU and RAM modules to work and insert them.

    • Re:Card-based computer (Score:5, Interesting)

      by red_dragon ( 1761 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:44PM (#5357748) Homepage

      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.

    • The IBM PS/2 E was exactly this. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by isaac ( 2852 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:49PM (#5357775)
      IBM made such a machine - the PS/2e [nothingtodo.org] was a low-power (fanless!) machine with a single ISA slot. This slot was almost always filled with a pcmcia adapter that put 4 PCMCIA slots on the front panel (behind the lil' door.)

      It didn't sell well, on account of it was way overpriced ($5000+ with a 10.4" VGA TFT, IIRC) - ultimately, it ended up at closeout places.

      This type of "slimtop" machine is moderately popular in Japan where space & power efficiency are more highly valued than in the US.

      -Isaac

    • Re:Card-based computer (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I've never understood why almost all PC's are so horribly consumer unfriendly, with expansion by unscrewing the case, inserting cards, screwing things down, etc. The old Atari PC's (400/800) at least had cartridge expansion (snap in a modem/ram card/etc.).

      There was an attempt by a number of PC manufacturers at defining an expansion cartridge format for the PC, similar to the laptop expansion bays, based on USB and FireWire, but (rumor has it) Intel killed it because they didn't want any non-Intel technology (i.e. FireWire). Would have been nice, though -- snap in a hard drive, modem, etc., impossible for a consumer to get wrong. No screws, no exposed electronics, no driver installs.

      Ah well, at least Intel can keep getting USB royalties... :-)

    • To a substantial extent, I think that this is the real longterm goal of the USB/Firewire design. They're supposed to have enough speed on an easy to use external bus that you can plug all kinds of peripherals- CD burners, hard drives, sound cards, and networking devices- into without ever having to open up the case. About the only thing that nobody seems to be trying to plug into them is graphics cards, which makes sense technically. Of course you pay a premium for those external devices, but that's likely to be true of something like a PCMCIA based system, too.

    • As I read your post, I think "wow, what a great idea!"

      Then I remember the cost of pcmcia cards.

      But what is a pcmcia card? It's a standard interconnect technology that's pluggable, coupled with a standard physical form factor that is external and small.

      Unfortunately, the real direction the industry has taken along those lines is USB. And the form factors, while external, were not standardized and are certainly not mating. As a matter of fact, increasingly I find my desk to be a jumble of USB devices hanging on the ends of their needlessly long cables.

      A case of bawls to the first slashdotter to succesfully solve my quandry, which is this:

      While I enjoy the universal ease of use of USB devices, the increasing amount of clutter every perihperal creates is dismaying, therefore a standard way of organizing disparate devices in such a way that it is tidy is needed. Rubber-banding the cables doesn't do it, though cheap, easy to manufacture, and easy to retrofit cable reels (including integral winding springs) WOULD do it. The solution should cost less than $50 for my 8 devices and be removable when needed.

  • Newcard (Score:5, Funny)

    by SILIZIUMM ( 241333 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:14PM (#5357560) Homepage
    Thanks 'Newcard' is just the codename. Imagine if it would have been the actual name... the next version of the product would have been called 'Newer Card', the following 'Even newer card' and so on.

    • Re:Newcard (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I don't care what _they call it. I'm still going to call it P, C, M, C, I, A, Card, and pronounce each of the syllables in luxurious detail.

      • Re:Newcard (Score:1, Redundant)

        by tadas ( 34825 )
        I don't care what _they call it. I'm still going to call it P, C, M, C, I, A, Card, and pronounce each of the syllables in luxurious detail.

        The acronym stands for "People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms".

    • No no no, the third version would be "NewererCard" of course!

    • Person 1: (dials cellphone)

      Person 2: Hello?

      Person 1: Okay, they do have laptop modems. Just needed to check with you, though... does your laptop take NEWCARDs?

      Person 2: What?!? Of course it takes new cards. I would have bought one off eBay otherwise.

      Person 1: ?!? Okay... just wanted to make sure.

      30 minutes later...

      Person 2: What the hell is this?

      Person 1: It's a NEWCARD modem!

      Person 2: Of course it's a new card modem, but for what, a PDA? I wanted one for my LAPTOP!!

      ...

    • Re:Newcard (Score:3, Funny)

      by swordboy ( 472941 )
      And rounding out the pop charts this week at number two is Ezra. Once again, number one is, Better than Ezra!
    • Which is exactly (although a bit disguised) what Intel did with the Pentium.

      Here's our fifth generation chip. Here's our newer (II) fifth generation chip and here's our even newer (III) fifth generation chip.

      Rinse and repeat until people in general catch on and start pointing and giggling at them.

      At this rate we'll NEVER see the Sexium.

      KFG
    • Anybody more than me remember the ultimate hacking cartridge for the C64? "Final Cartridge III"?

      I love names like that :-)

      The New Church (Nieuwe Kerk) in Amsterdam springs to mind. It was completed around 1350...
  • like HighFrequency - VeryHighFrequency - UltraHighFrequency - SuperHighFrequency - Exremely(?)HighFrequency

    or DoubleDensity - HighDensity - ExtraHighDensity

    NewCard - NewNewCard - EvenNewerCard

  • picture of it (Score:5, Interesting)

    by adpowers ( 153922 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:15PM (#5357570)
    Here is a picture of it [anandtech.com] in an actual computer.
  • First, it was PCMCIA... Then it became PC-CARD.... Now NEWCARD?

    Whats next? NEWERCARD? REALLYNEWCARD? NEWERTHANLAST-CARD?

  • I find this very good... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by zoloto ( 586738 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:18PM (#5357595)
    ...if companies support it widely enough. It would be nice to slip this into a dumb terminal, and presto! instant user desktop with our personal info on it. Then take it out and carry your stuff with you.

    this is just one of the possibilities
    • Not with my users. I'd get the frantic phone call in the middle of the night about losing documents.

      Caller: OH MY LORD I LOST MY DOCS!

      Me: Huh? Did you delete them?

      Caller: No, i lost my PC-on-a-card.

      Me: Tough luck, did you remember to allow you docs to get backed up?

      Caller: I have to do that?

      Me: Er, did you not get the memo?

      Caller: I thought you did everything like that (and wipe my ass besides).

      Me: No, good luck finding a new job.
  • Maybe this is offtopic but I think it is important that people realize that one should never name things "new something", because of the obvious reason: at some point they will not be new anymore and the name will be plain stupid and whoever invented it will feel bad. So save yourself the trouble and think before naming stuff. This applies to function names, program names, whatever.

  • It's not the size, but how you lose it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kaz Riprock ( 590115 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:19PM (#5357597)

    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...

    • Re:It's not the size, but how you lose it (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I've got an EasyDisk drive the size of two or three cigarettes -- it came in a leather case, and I've just attached it to my keychain. Haven't lost it yet.

    • Re:It's not the size, but how you lose it (Score:4, Insightful)

      by kfg ( 145172 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @11:15PM (#5358431)
      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
      • Have you ever seen a minidisk? They're encased in a hard shell, much like floppies; no worries about scratching there.

        Since we're talking about ideal sizes, I would actually prefer minidisk-sized devices over floppy-sized devices. To me, minidisks are the perfect size for handling. Small enough to put several of them even in the smallest pocket, and big enough that you don't lose them like you do quarters.
        • I agree.
          I also think Minidisks would be the perfect replacement for floppy disks, and I don't really understand why it hasn't been pushed.
          People seem to be touting USB key-fobs as floppy replacements, but an additional factor that the floppy has to all those you've mentioned, right size, protective shell, etc. is that they're cheap.
          I can slip one in an envelope and send it to a friend. I can give it away with relatively little cost to myself. Not true of USB Key-Fobs.
          MiniDisks would seem the perfect replacement for floppies, I'd have thought.
        • I don't mean the minidisk(tm). I mean the smaller CD size that can be put into the smaller recess in a standard CD drive.

          Perhaps the digital "Business Card" will take over this function

          KFG

  • Excuse me Sir... (Score:4, Funny)

    by greymond ( 539980 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:24PM (#5357630) Homepage Journal
    "Hi I wanted to get a NEWCARD for my computer."

    "Sure, what kind of new card did you want to get, a modem, video card, etc...?"

  • what does it stand for? (Score:5, Funny)

    by fermion ( 181285 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:27PM (#5357649) Homepage Journal
    does anyone remember what PCMCIA stands for.

    I think I head it was People Can't Memorize Complicated Industry Acronyms?

    Any want to confirm/correct this?

  • Oh.. the NEWCARD.. (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I prefer the OLDCARD name... as one would put it "Teeeh Expensive Little Piece of Garbage".

  • Why USB 2.0: such a slow standard? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by adzoox ( 615327 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:36PM (#5357698) Journal
    Isn't USB 2.0 already slower than the PCI Express or cardbus i/o?

    Why didn't they choose FireWire 800 or something like an AGP type i/o so that video card PC cards could be ultrafast?

    • Why didn't they choose FireWire 800 or something like an AGP type i/o so that video card PC cards could be ultrafast?

      Well, you can only have one AGP slot, and who wants to handle 30+ watts coming from a plugin card? Anyway, If you support 64bit/66MHz PCI, then you can just plug a Firewire card in.

    • Re:Why USB 2.0: such a slow standard? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by g4dget ( 579145 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @09:01PM (#5357834)
      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.

      • Uh, I don't think so. USB belongs to intel. Remember when usb was first forced down our throats? (it was the 440LX chipset I think) It was a useless plug nobody used but nonetheless you couldn't buy a machine without it because intel simply made it impossible to do so. Now that it is ubiquitous intel can levy massive royalties. I'm pretty shure intel wants to shove it's usb2 anywhere it can either with convincing or coercive arguments.
        • USB belongs to intel. Remember when usb was first forced down our throats?

          I do. I was eagerly awaiting an alternative to PS/2 and RS-232c. Apple made USB a modest success in their market niche, and I was glad to see it come to the PC platform. What is wrong with that? And USB has turned out to be great for Linux: USB offers by far the widest selection of devices for Linux that just plug in and work.

          Now that it is ubiquitous intel can levy massive royalties. I'm pretty shure intel wants to shove it's usb2 anywhere it can either with convincing or coercive arguments.

          So? Apple was trying to charge FireWire royalties. Given that both standards are proprietary, that is not a basis for preferring one over the other.

          • Nothing against it at all. I was just giving my answer to why people end up with usb2 enabled toiletpaper, that's it. I'm not pro or against usb (although I object that it could have been deployed better, after all it has been a massive beta test for usb2), I'm just aware that it's a proprietary imposed standard like rambus, yet more fortunate (and perhaps useful) than the latter.

  • It's just a refinement (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:40PM (#5357730)
    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.

    • FUD (Score:2)

      by g4dget ( 579145 )
      Unclear to me why they'd trumpet any sort of connection to USB, given the incredibly bad compatibility story it has.

      That's just FUD. USB compatibility is excellent, for the kinds of devices for which there are official standards. That includes mass storage, networking, and digital cameras. USB compatibility may not be perfect, but there are also plenty of FireWire, PCI, parallel port, and RS-232c devices that require special drivers.

      In different words, USB's "compatibility story" certainly can be improved,b ut I don't see any alternative to USB that comes even close.

    • NEWCARD is simply specs for a new version of PCMCIA that allows for two NEWCARDs in the place of one PCMCIA

      Isn't that basically the difference between PCMCIA Type II and Type I? If so, they could ditch the NEWCARD moniker and simply call it PCMCIA Type 0.5 (or would that be 0.V? or 1/2? or I/II?)

  • Seriously. How can you stop a compeditor that doesn't have bills to pay, or debt? I mean, I was worried back in the day. I was sure they'd come up with some way of simply taking advantage of strong political ties to make Linux essentially illegal. That doesn't even matter anymore. Money is getting invested. Huge companies are in. I used to flat out laugh at the "world domination" types on here because it just sounded so silly. My argument was always, who cares about the rest of the world. How can they stop something free? It's turning out to be their achilles heel. Microsoft can't buy Linux out. Microsoft is moving too slowly to make something that can compete on cost. They've spent a fortune on trying to market their way out of this inevitable approaching death, and people just don't buy it anymore. I'm not saying that Microsoft will fade into the distance. That's just not realistic. But they will have to give up the childish name calling and get onboard at some point. The sooner they realize they need to give up the server market and embrace Linux as much as they can, the less money they'll bleed down the road. If they don't, they'll lose the server market within a short time, then they'll slowly lose the desktop market. It's all right there in black and white. It's what I see. I can't be the only one. Imagine all the PHB's reading articles going "wow, that geeky guy telling me about Linux years ago was right. We need Linux now". I don't even feel silly saying that. I would have a year ago. Scott McNeilly in a Penguin suit speaks volumes. It's only a matter of time now.

  • less PR, more info (Score:5, Informative)

    by Turadg ( 13362 ) <[ ] ['' in gap]> on Friday February 21, 2003 @08:58PM (#5357811)
    Good summary [bbc.co.uk] from the BBC

    Techie details [eet.com] from EE Times

  • Ohhhh, USB2 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by evilviper ( 135110 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @09:17PM (#5357912) Journal
    I suppose PCMCIA/CardBus was too fast, and worked too well. "Let's throw USB2 in the mix and watch the hilarious results."

    The advantage I see, is that USB and firewire have been smart enough (where everyone else was moronic) to have just one software interface, meaning one driver will support all the USB/Firewire cards.

    However, they could have done the same thing with something better than USB2.

  • N-E-W-C-A-R-D (Score:2, Funny)

    by FS ( 10110 )
    As long as we don't have to spell it "N-E-W-C-A-R-D" every time we say it! People mispeak PCMCIA more than any other acronym I can think of.

  • Cooling and speed (Score:3, Interesting)

    by foldedspace ( 463615 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @09:45PM (#5358030) Homepage
    You guys thinking you can just upgrade the entire computer with a closed up little plastic card, forget it. Gigabit ethernet outruns the 32 bit/33 MHz PCI bus. Video cards, gigabit network cards and even some sound cards have heatsinks and (some even have) fans. I'm having a hard time imagining exactly what this will be good for.

    • Wrong. (Score:2, Informative)

      by daoine_sidhe ( 619572 )
      Gigabit ethernet has a maximum transfer rate of 128MB/s. The PCI bus can handle up to 132MB/s. Read this: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/infobrf/ibpci.html That completely aside, this does not use the PCI bus. It uses PCI-Express or USB 2.0 (decided by the particular NEWCARD in question). PCI-Express can do 10GB/s in either direction (the NEWCARD will be limited to 2.5GB/s) while USB 2.0 can handle up to 400megabit/s. There is also no need for gigabit NICs to need heatsinks. There is a HUGE market for these things in the portable computing world. In the future, please read the specs before commenting.
    • Actually Gigabit ethernet runs slower than 32/33 PCI. Quite a bit slower. It's only slightly slower in thoery, but the difference is where PCI operates at or near a true 132MB/s, you will never see the theoretical peak of gigabit ethernet, just like you will never see the theoretical peak of 100baseT. Also, a PC-card like standard using AGP for it's I/O Bus instead of PCI could handle all the things you speak of. Also, don't forget with 1000BaseT latency is still in the ms's.. compare to ns over PCI/AGP...

      It's completely possible to upgrade a computer with a closed up little card, just not financially feasible for manufactureres to produce or consumers to buy.

  • Great just what we need.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by los furtive ( 232491 ) <ChrisLamotheNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday February 21, 2003 @10:17PM (#5358158) Homepage
    ...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.

  • Speaking of stupid names... (Score:4, Funny)

    by ediron2 ( 246908 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @11:18PM (#5358446) Journal
    Hey, laugh it up about 'newcard'.

    Seriously.

    Have fun. All I know is any name beats the everloving s**t out of PCCard. I can't count
    all the times I've had to break out of a conversation to make sure whoever I was doing
    a support call for was talking about a PC-CARD (like a credit card) and not a PC card (like
    one you open up the PC and install inside).

    Oh god. I just channeled my own voice from the future: "No, is that a *NEW* card you've installed, or is it..."

  • Old vs. New (Score:3, Funny)

    by DarwinDan ( 596565 ) on Friday February 21, 2003 @11:41PM (#5358523) Homepage
    So now they're gonna call the older PCMCIA standard OLDCARD?

  • So, is it just me... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by tlambert ( 566799 ) on Saturday February 22, 2003 @12:31AM (#5358669)
    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
  • I mean, a Pulse Code Modulated Central Intelligence Agency would just be one step futher toward a police state then is acceptable by anyone.

    KFG

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