Sounds completely reasonable to me as I figured this was the intention a few years ago. Our world will be 'more' instant-on all the time, every time and everywhere. Implanted biometrics is now just a small incision away. 
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Apple Considering Doubling Size of North Carolina Data Center?
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So true. People just don't think about that a very strong upstream is needed. At least 2-4MB, and that's not megabit mind you.
absolutely, especially in afrika! slow upload speeds et al
Sure, at some point the cloud as a replacement for HDs might be the future, but that future is 10+ years off, at least. In the US, anyway.
I have to wonder whether people proclaiming that the cloud is the future now have ever really tried to actually use the cloud.
I use Mozy (a cloud backup service) as my main backup system for my files. I'm very happy with it and would recommend it. However, to initially upload my files to mozy (~70GB, mostly 10 years of photos and music; no video or blu-ray rips) took about a *month* of my computer uploading 24/7 (it pauses when I'm using the bandwidth myself). Upload speeds are just that slow, and I don't see real improvements coming anytime soon - quadruple upload speed and it still takes a week to transfer at 24/7.
I have to wonder whether people proclaiming that the cloud is the future now have ever really tried to actually use the cloud.
I use Mozy (a cloud backup service) as my main backup system for my files. I'm very happy with it and would recommend it. However, to initially upload my files to mozy (~70GB, mostly 10 years of photos and music; no video or blu-ray rips) took about a *month* of my computer uploading 24/7 (it pauses when I'm using the bandwidth myself). Upload speeds are just that slow, and I don't see real improvements coming anytime soon - quadruple upload speed and it still takes a week to transfer at 24/7.
So I can only access my files when I have wi-fi? Or if I subscribe to a data plan from a wireless provider? I have to wait for my 2 gig files to download over the connection before I can open them? That doesn't sound so hot.
If the MBA is the future, it's only in that it is the least user-customizable laptop yet. That is where Apple is going with its consumer products, apparently, in the pursuit of thinness.
If the MBA is the future, it's only in that it is the least user-customizable laptop yet. That is where Apple is going with its consumer products, apparently, in the pursuit of thinness.
Maybe you should have put a couple of
Haha. Thank you. Some people got it. I was kidding.
i completely agree. mobile me is a good tool, love find my iphone etc but iDisk is a JOKE and always has been.
I have been using the 'cloud' for 10 years or more now. I have many files and pictures that have been e-mailed to me over the years that reside in my various online e-mail accounts. I have no need to download them, and they are all there to be found with a simple search. The documents in my Gmail account can be edited with Google Docs as well. I use it all the time for when I access some work spreadsheets from the road.
seamuskrat gave a wonderful summation of the issue and I can't hope to top that post, but I will say that a lot of this 'argument' over why this is a bad idea sounds a heck of a lot like the same arguments people had when SJ decided to eliminate floppy drives...internet not fast enough to transfer files, we NEED that local storage option...etc. Well, I can say my last Mac with a floppy drive was circa 1996 and I have never looked back. Never ever bought an external drive to 'tide me over'.
Rest assured this plan is well thought out and will work for 99.9% of the people using Apple products. And the other 0.01% will come around within 3 years after seeing how well it works.
I completely agree with your complete agreement.
mobile me is one of the few things that Apple has gotten wrong over the last several years. It might be the only thing they've gotten wrong that they haven't fixed or made a strong effort at fixing. The idea is good and parts of it are useful, but idisk is often unusable for any real file IO. Using cyberduck to connect via webdav works much better, which is odd- that means it is a software problem and not a problem with the pipe.
Would someone please post RECENT aerial photos or satellite images of the Maiden, NC and Newark, CA server sites?
Rocketman
Rocketman
Well stated. I know many who have no idea how to put new music on their iPod, how to sync, etc. And these are people that are educated. (Granted, many of their teenage children know, sort of, how to do it.) Apple is just trying to accommodate the non tech savvy user.
When Apple launched the iPad, they were short on supply, when they launched the iPhone 4 they were short on supply, and both times some insisted Apple was doing this on purpose. I don't think so, and if this is true, when they start whatever service this might be - at least they want to make sure not to be short on supply again. So: good move!
Just wait until the real 4G is widely used
Right now, a data center the size of Apple's NC facility is drastic overkill. Apple's computing devices and online services simply don't need that much server power or storage.
But let's look 2 or 3 years ahead. By then, the real 4G spec will have been chosen and all the carriers will be rolling it out. (This will be an all-IP all-packet-switched protocol, most likely LTE Advanced.) And only then will it make any sense at all to keep your data in the cloud. Before that, wireless access would simply be too slow. And right now internet access, wired or wireless, isn't available 100% of the time due to lapses in coverage, network issues, etc.
Apple learned the hard way that large-scale server operations need lots of planning, testing, debugging, re-testing, and polishing. Remember when iPhone 3G and MobileMe were launched together? Disaster.
I wouldn't be surprised if future MacBook Airs and even iMacs had built-in 4G. Maybe during the Lion timeframe, or maybe post-Lion, we'll be able to leapfrog landline cable, DSL, and optical. Why wait decades for the telcos to install legacy wired internet connections when we can all go wireless in a few years?
By building the NC data center now, Apple is giving themselves a head start toward that wireless future. They can test technologies, refine them, and announce them when they're completely finished. Instead of being caught flat-footed and rushing out a half-baked mess (like Microsoft did with Danger.)
Right now, a data center the size of Apple's NC facility is drastic overkill. Apple's computing devices and online services simply don't need that much server power or storage.
But let's look 2 or 3 years ahead. By then, the real 4G spec will have been chosen and all the carriers will be rolling it out. (This will be an all-IP all-packet-switched protocol, most likely LTE Advanced.) And only then will it make any sense at all to keep your data in the cloud. Before that, wireless access would simply be too slow. And right now internet access, wired or wireless, isn't available 100% of the time due to lapses in coverage, network issues, etc.
Apple learned the hard way that large-scale server operations need lots of planning, testing, debugging, re-testing, and polishing. Remember when iPhone 3G and MobileMe were launched together? Disaster.
I wouldn't be surprised if future MacBook Airs and even iMacs had built-in 4G. Maybe during the Lion timeframe, or maybe post-Lion, we'll be able to leapfrog landline cable, DSL, and optical. Why wait decades for the telcos to install legacy wired internet connections when we can all go wireless in a few years?
By building the NC data center now, Apple is giving themselves a head start toward that wireless future. They can test technologies, refine them, and announce them when they're completely finished. Instead of being caught flat-footed and rushing out a half-baked mess (like Microsoft did with Danger.)
I think you are right on the money with this.
I can get wireless internet right now in my neighborhhod that is the same speed as my current wired connection for only 15 dollars more a month. Costs will come to an equibrium and speeds will certainly increase. Those who have cell phone access now will, in 2-3 years, likely have access to 4G speeds.
This isn't far down the road.
Yeah, it will work fine for e-mailed photos and documents. But not for the original photos you take on your digital camera. Or for a music collection.
The question is whether you can replace a hard drive with the cloud, not whether you can use the cloud for anything.
If the plan is to replace HDs with the cloud, the plan is as well thought out as the original iteration of mobile me, and will be as successful.
What's the big deal, the government has all my personal information, and the majority (if not all) of working, taxpaying citizens information for that matter. Corporate companies are not the government, and sure, maybe they can access your info, but how many of them actually want to? I'd put it in the hands of them any day, than to a hobo in the alley.
Store all your data remotely, and you are half-way back to the client-server architecture.
Apple would sell more 'units' of anything, if people didn't have to worry about migrating data, config, apps, etc from one piece of hardware to replacement or additional hardware. Currently, it's quite a pain have multiple computers and keep everything in sync (that extends beyond data) -- so, who is really going to have a desktop and two laptops and replace hardware every year? No one, because it's a PITA.
If Job's goal is to sell more units and be simpler, smaller, lighter, and have longer battery life -- perhaps the DC has more of a purpose than data storage. I suspect Job's doesn't see networking as an issue in the long term.
Apple would sell more 'units' of anything, if people didn't have to worry about migrating data, config, apps, etc from one piece of hardware to replacement or additional hardware. Currently, it's quite a pain have multiple computers and keep everything in sync (that extends beyond data) -- so, who is really going to have a desktop and two laptops and replace hardware every year? No one, because it's a PITA.
If Job's goal is to sell more units and be simpler, smaller, lighter, and have longer battery life -- perhaps the DC has more of a purpose than data storage. I suspect Job's doesn't see networking as an issue in the long term.
The MacBook Air as the future of the MacBook? The problem I have with that is that if I were to buy a MacBook, it would probably be the largest size of the Pro, not just for more disk space than the Air has, but for more RAM, faster CPU, screen >= 1920x1080, and graphics performance.
Yes, it's a bit to lug around, but I'd want more of a portable desktop than a traveller's companion; something to do almost anything I could do at home (minus the massive storage there), but do it somewhere else.
If I could have two laptops, and traveled more than I do, being light and compact would count for more with me, and I'd certainly consider the Air. But as an only laptop, it might not be powerful enough for my liking.
Yes, it's a bit to lug around, but I'd want more of a portable desktop than a traveller's companion; something to do almost anything I could do at home (minus the massive storage there), but do it somewhere else.
If I could have two laptops, and traveled more than I do, being light and compact would count for more with me, and I'd certainly consider the Air. But as an only laptop, it might not be powerful enough for my liking.
Where you getting this numbers from? The Cloud (ie thin air?) Anybody could make up a secnairo with numbers they pull out of nowhere. Link or it don't exisit.
Do you really think it would be cheaper to build parts in the US? Where would you get the low pay employees? They would have to import the Foxcon employees just to make it viable. There is a reason why jobs are leaving the US.
He must have been talking about the plastic version of the solid state clamshell computer. It gets better reception anyway. Available in 5 colors!
Rocketman
Waiting for "flower power" to reemerge.
I would say for the majority of people the most important thing they would want to store is photos, which aren't small. Not if you want to download an album of 100 photos to show someone quickly.