Google Active Sync vs. iCloud

thewhitehart said:

I was wondering if there was any compelling reason to switch from Google Active Sync to iCloud when it arrives. I remember in the past my Google calendar and contact syncing with iPhone was a little flakey with categories for contacts, and especially playing nicely with my mac's address book. It seems a bit more smooth now though.

iCal doesn't always play nice with Google Calendar, and I'd like to use it over Google's web interface. Are there any advantages of iCal with iPhone calendar over Google Calendar?

I'll definitely use iCloud for the photo stream and other cool bits, but is it worth it for contacts and calendars?

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Not sure if it's changed lately, but I think Googles contact manager doesn't separate first and last names. This used to cause some problems for me syncing contacts back and forth.

Personally, I prefer Apple's iCal and address book so my two Macs, my iPhone and my iPad stay consistent.

I use Gmail for email, but maintain my contacts through MobileMe (soon to be iCloud I suppose). And actually, the only reason I use Gmail is because the firewall on the wifi network at work blocks all POP and IMAP access, while Exchange is allowed right through. Since MobileMe's email uses IMAP, it fails to connect unless I turn off wifi and use 3G. Gmail, of course, can be configured to use Exchange, so it gets right through the firewall. If not for this stupid issue at work I'd be using MobileMe for email as well.

I don't think I could move away from Google/Gmail as its currently so easy when moving to any type of device or phone to put in a google or activesync account and immediately get my contacts/calendar/mail on the device. If I knew for sure that I would only ever use iOS devices then maybe I'd give iCloud a try when it comes.

Another thought (not sure if its possible with iCloud?) ability to use any domain name with google.