There were SSDs since the '80s, both flash (rare) and DRAM-with-battery (more common). You just didn't have the $$$ for them. CF cards were introduced in '94 a

There were SSDs since the '80s, both flash (rare) and DRAM-with-battery (more common). You just didn't have the $$$ for them. CF cards were introduced in '94 and use a PATA interface. Before them there were memory cards in PCMCIA (ISA bus) format.