Apple Introduces iCloud: Contact, Cal, Docs, Photos, and Music Syncing Free of Charge

[mr. who?]

The reason why no one is complaining is that they are sensible to realize that keeping a copy of your music, pictures and documents is not an invasion of privacy. No one would go to great depths to hack and check out your pictures on iCloud. And if you feel any of your documents are highly sensitive, the simple option is not to put those on iCloud. Someone is providing you an easy way to manage your files for literally free, least you can do is appreciate it and not blame them.

Have you seen where it says you can turn this "off", or simply not upload to icloud? Not trying to antagonistic - I have a serious desire to turn the whole thing off. What troubles me already though, is that without my permission, every iDevice in my household can now see what apps I've bought and potentially downloaded on my iphone. Now, that's not a big deal in my house - I have nothing to hide, and don't have anything that my family can't share in. But that's not the point. It's the very concept that apple has turned on something that I didn't elect to turn on. And if I don't have the option to turn it off, then what else is being stored to iCloud that I didn't opt in to?

Will I have the simple option of just indicating "no apple, I want to continue living in the PC era and store things on my computer, not in your cloud"? Not asking you directly - none of us have those answers yet, but that's the question that's important to me and many others at this point.

But anyway, your post infers a simple option of not putting info in iCloud. Is this an option you read about? Would like to know.

 

[mr. who?]

That is exactly the thing you DON'T want. You DO want that one account for purchases, but you don't want your wife to see the picture you took of the present you are getting her for her birthday on her phone.

Didn't think of this. And agree 100%. Really not liking this iCloud thing. Hope there is an option to turn it off completely and keep living in the PC era.

 

[vw195]

Can you name the single website that provides all of those services seamlessly and links to all of your devices? Durr.

google.com ?

 

[coachingguy]

Not to be an a$$, but I've got no sympathy for anyone who bought or updated their Mobileme in the last 2 months. iCloud has been discussed on CNN, Fox Cnet, Fortune, NYtimes and obviously on the Mac sites. For you to update or buy it in that time, don't be pissed at apple. It's neat to have a @mac.com or @mobileme, but what'd you expect? Also, SJ didn't comment about Mobile Me at all today except to make a joke at his own expense about trusting the guys who did Mobile Me being able to pull iCloud off. My guess, you keep your email and apparently most of the other stuff you were paying for is now free.

Coachingguy

 

[MacFever]

Official Information about the MobileMe transition

just noticed this in my Mobile Me account info...

Information about the MobileMe transition

Last Modified: June 06, 2011
Article: HT4597


What's happening to MobileMe?

Effective June 6, 2011, if you had an active MobileMe account, your service has been automatically extended through June 30, 2012, at no additional charge. After this, the MobileMe service will no longer be available.

Read more:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4597

 

[idunn]

Yes, but ...

'iCloud entirely removes the concept of file-storage.'
- per 'Macrumors'


Oh, no, it does not.

Not to dismiss the many obvious benefits of iCloud, as it will obviously prove quite useful and popular. But as one well versed in the limitations of 1.3Mps download speeds (at best) I can also suggest that not everyone will be in a position to use something like iCloud effectively, or even necessarily want to.

At the outset the fact that anything not with you will be unusable if without internet access. If such access is increasingly more of a given in urban America, anyone traveling may be surprised at how easily they can find themselves entirely out of the loop.

Another serious consideration is the penny-pinching of ISP's who seem determined to throttle and cap data amounts. Such behavior is counter productive to schemes such as iCloud which demand unlimited data throughput at the highest possible speeds. Something will have to give, and preferably the 19th century thinking of ISP's and regulators.

Not that there is not a lot of upside to something like iCloud. Even now many of us probably find our data spread between various remote servers (clouds) and those personally owned. But the fuller transition to nebulous clouds will require not only all the greater bandwidth, and decent access prices to go with it, but also proven reliability that 'our' data is really ours. Because always able to access easily, with no technical problem, government entity, or other preventing it.

Until then, some things best kept close at hand.

 

[thatsmyfish]

Have you seen where it says you can turn this "off", or simply not upload to icloud? Not trying to antagonistic - I have a serious desire to turn the whole thing off. What troubles me already though, is that without my permission, every iDevice in my household can now see what apps I've bought and potentially downloaded on my iphone. Now, that's not a big deal in my house - I have nothing to hide, and don't have anything that my family can't share in. But that's not the point. It's the very concept that apple has turned on something that I didn't elect to turn on. And if I don't have the option to turn it off, then what else is being stored to iCloud that I didn't opt in to?

Will I have the simple option of just indicating "no apple, I want to continue living in the PC era and store things on my computer, not in your cloud"? Not asking you directly - none of us have those answers yet, but that's the question that's important to me and many others at this point.

But anyway, your post infers a simple option of not putting info in iCloud. Is this an option you read about? Would like to know.

You beat me to the punch. From time to time it may be nice to buy a song on my iphone and have it instantly sync to the laptop at home, but that's it. If I can wireless sync my wife's ipad and my iphone, that's more than enough for me. I want to know if I can opt out of iCloud, period, and at most, specify precisely which files I want to share, and no more?

 

[superfula]

How many times do I have to say that MobileMe and iCloud are two different products. Seriously?

If Apple announced a new iPhone tomorrow, and decided to give it away free, you guys would be whining and complaining about having to had paid $200 for your iPhone 4 last week. And i'm sure we would be going through this same discussion, you get what you paid for - just because something new comes out doesn't mean you are entitled to a refund.

Listen - Just because they announce a new service that shall replace MobileMe - doesn't mean I am entitled to a refund. At the time of purchase I knew what I was buying, and I knew I was guaranteed that service for the next year.

iCloud is not MobileMe, and MobileMe is not iCloud. You get what you paid for, "at the time of purchase." That is - Mail, Calendar, Gallery, iDisk, and Find My iPhone. iCloud does not include those services AT THIS TIME. And when released, it will only be an alternative to MobileMe until MobileMe expires. MobileMe users are not required to switch to iCloud!! Therefor, I am not paying for a service that is otherwise free.

That's like comparing MobileMe ($99) with Google Apps (Free). I chose MobileMe, I chose to pay, I chose my service.

Wow, drinking a lot of the Apple cool aid there. You can say it once or 50 times, but it's still not true. MobileMe and iCloud are the same thing, just like dot Mac and iTools were before them. Giving it a new name and a couple cool features doesn't make it a brand new product. At most it's an upgrade.

The proper route would be for Apple to prorate refunds to mobileme subs. If I just re-upped my MM sub a couple months ago, I'll be paying for something for the next 10 months that others get for free with iCloud in the fall.

 

[satkin2]

Apple will have to introduce a way to consolidate IDs. I've currently got two, a MobileMe ID and an ID I had way before that which I use for my iTunes music and app purchases.

If I understand correctly, iCloud would use either my MobileMe ID, so sync that id with its mail, calendar etc, or my iTunes ID which would allow me to sync my music.

As it stands I don't see how I could sync everything as I am unable to consolidate the two IDs into one.

 

[apolloa]

I call this lame to be honest, I have a Mac I WANT to keep all my photo's on and I back it up to Timecapsule, I can use photo bucket or flikr or facebook if I wanted to, and I can upload direct from a phone to these if I wanted to.

I can see some point to it, but Data costs, that will kill this. Plus not a lot of people have the iPad with the monthly subscription on top of the mobile phone they carry in the UK.
I just managed to negotiate a very good deal for my phone but had to limit the data to 250mb to get it, and that's ONLY because it was an iPhone, any other phone I would get more but I was told Apple like to control what the operators can offer, actually I should have paid a lot more...

But upload video and photos and how long will my 250mb last? Plus it's not going to be fast.

This is a confusing service from Apple?

 

[iCrizzo]

I am assuming iWeb is a done deal now?? No mention of this.. not that it is great but I use it for my personal site.

 

[ten-oak-druid]

Not to be an a$$, but I've got no sympathy for anyone who bought or updated their Mobileme in the last 2 months. iCloud has been discussed on CNN, Fox Cnet, Fortune, NYtimes and obviously on the Mac sites. For you to update or buy it in that time, don't be pissed at apple. It's neat to have a @mac.com or @mobileme, but what'd you expect? Also, SJ didn't comment about Mobile Me at all today except to make a joke at his own expense about trusting the guys who did Mobile Me being able to pull iCloud off. My guess, you keep your email and apparently most of the other stuff you were paying for is not free.

Coachingguy

I explained my situation before. I purchased a cheap mobileme code last year. Couldn't use it until January. Only one per year may be entered. In November last year I had the opportunity to purchase another activation code for cheap when I got my iphone. I figured I was set for 2 years.

Luckily Apple has sympathy and allows a refund. I couldn't care less if you are sympathetic or not.

 

[elsonsmith]

bye bye public gallery =(

MobileMe has been well worth the less than 10 a month!

I am an artist and photographer and I have been using the public gallery space to share with my friends and family. Set up so that those I give the address can actually download the full resolution file of the image they are viewing.

They love being able to have and print / use as desktops my images.
I love that my friends and family requests are no longer in my workflow.
I have been able to focus more on new projects instead of a constant stream of reprints matting framing old images. Sure this can be done other ways but MobileMe made it simple. Just upload directly from iPhoto or Aperture.

That was just my favorite part! The mail is sophisticated intelligent and very clean. The backup application is seamless and runs quite well (better than wireless time machine).

Hopefully by the time Me expires Apple will integrate these features as well as the ability to purchase additional space.

Also would hate to lose my Apple TV's connection to galleries and video files stored on me.com. Sounds like no streaming though!? So could it host and present my movies on Apple TV like me.com can?

A free year sure is welcome! Hopefully icloud will match and then exceed my experience with Me.com

Fingers Crossed.

 

[benthewraith]

Andre:
Thank you for the article. I understand that you can only tell me what you've been told by your supervisors. But they should have expected the confusion caused by this iCloud announcement. And judging by what's going on online, I'm not the only confused MobileMe customer.

Kimberly:
You definitely aren't. I found out 30 minutes ago when I walked in. All we have is that article. I'm sorry.

It's this that makes me think iCloud will be as unreliable as MobileMe.

 

[superfula]

Not to be an a$$, but I've got no sympathy for anyone who bought or updated their Mobileme in the last 2 months. iCloud has been discussed on CNN, Fox Cnet, Fortune, NYtimes and obviously on the Mac sites. For you to update or buy it in that time, don't be pissed at apple.

I don't believe anyone thought Apple would screw them over by not handing out refunds. Shoot, no one expected the new service to be free either. Most expected Apple to charge and simply apply any credit from MM to iCloud

 

[djrod]

I guess I don't "get" it, what the big deal about this is.

I already have Gmail.

I already have Flickr.

And I already have online storage.

How is this any different?

I don't get it.

I already have a CD player

I already have a DVD player

I already have a PDA

Why would I want to have all these things in just only one phone?

I think you get what I mean

 

[Full of Win]

I come out of this smelling like a rose. I get to keep my Mac.com email, I don't have to renew my Mobile Me in two months and I don't have to use the .me that the riffraff will be sporting.

 

[gturban]

Clever

I think this is a very clever move. I have been thinking for a long time that having paid subscriptions only is a huge dissadvantage compared to Google. They are finally going to be able to take on Google and in some extent Facebook. They should have done it when Gmail came, but late is better than never. Apple will get a lot of new subscribers through selling devices! I'm sure all reps will be very helpful setting up your .me address when you buy your iPhone.. And if all your friends have a .me email they can finally make ping work as well. I also think it will be a great boost to make people use facetime. If your device automatically know your potential facetime connections through your emails, people are going to find it more relevant to use!
I wish that they could have a dropbox like feature where you could place documents to share with others, also non .me users! But who knows, that might still be implemented...
I also hope they keep other .me features, and I'm sure they will sell extra space if 5GB is not enough, like google is..
And by extending all .me accounts for 1 year they give themselves time to think a bit more about how to implement the features.

 

[vw195]

I think this is a very clever move. I have been thinking for a long time that having paid subscriptions only is a huge dissadvantage compared to Google. They are finally going to be able to take on Google and in some extent Facebook. They should have done it when Gmail came, but late is better than never.

I guarantee you Jobs lost this argument kicking and screaming. It must kill him to give away mobile..i mean icloud for free. Nonetheless I will get an icloud account, although doubt it will ever be my main as gmail serves me nicely.

edit: and I dont know how clever it was. I would submit necessary.

 

[Craiger77]

People seem to be pretty confused here.

Apple will give you a prorated refund if you want to cancel...but understand that you are canceling your account and you will no longer have access to it. You will be free to sign up for another account when iCloud becomes active in the Fall, but you will loose everything you have on MobileMe now and the functionality that comes with it for some time.

For people saying others were stupid for renewing recently you should think more clearly. If someone hadn't renewed they would have lost their account and what it gives them until they could sign up again once iCloud becomes active in the Fall.

It seems apparent that MobileMe and iCloud are not equivalent. With no mention of Gallery, iWeb hosting etc, it seems these services are going away. By giving you access to these things for up to an extra year Apple feels it is compensating you enough without giving you a refund. You are paying because you are getting something that won't be available with iCloud. You may not agree this is fair, but I believe that is Apple's thinking.

I am sure with all the drama this is generating Apple will come up with more information sooner rather than later. Apple does a lot of things right, but when it comes to predicting the noise generated by some of their actions they seem to have real blinders.

 

[edwurtle]

4. Itunes Sync - so this means that since my entire 6000+ song library is ripped; does that mean I must pay $25.00 a year to match? I do not have the original CD's anymore for the most of them; since they got scratched, lost, and some were damaged in a fire. If I do not match - it sounds like I lose my music? What about all those indies or locals who are not on itunes. Also I deal with local artists. I heard something about uploading the song if no match. Working with local artists, copyright would bar me from doing that. Plus Itunes is integrated in many apps.

No, you do not have to pay $25.00 a year to match. You can still use the old traditional syncing method with your pc/mac itunes. If you want to cut the cord and use icloud with your non-itunes-purchased music then this "match" offer is for you.

 

[twoodcc]

It seems pretty good. But what if we want more than 5gb?

 

[macadam212]

Pure speculation here but I think iDisk will continue as a paid upgrade - which is why we are all getting extensions to our purchased MobileMe services. If they were going away and being replaced by a more basic "free" service - why would we be getting extensions?

The alternative would be that Apple is decommissioning iDisk and we have an extended period of time to get used to it and find alternative services.

I would prefer the idea that Apple is keeping iDisk - because a mountable drive in the sky is still useful to some people and it might be useful to future apps that take advantage of the iCloud API.

 

[ewoods]

I don't get it.

I already have a CD player

I already have a DVD player

I already have a PDA

Why would I want to have all these things in just only one phone?

I think you get what I mean

I think the part that you're missing is that, to the average consumer, syncing to various services is already a seamless process on most devices. It's not like I have to sign into Gmail/Flickr/Facebook/etc every time I want to sync something. I set it up once, which takes maybe two minutes, and then the syncing happens automatically. So as far as user experience goes, I might as well be syncing to one service, even though I'm really syncing to five or six.

 

[bilbo--baggins]

Apple will have to introduce a way to consolidate IDs. I've currently got two, a MobileMe ID and an ID I had way before that which I use for my iTunes music and app purchases.

If I understand correctly, iCloud would use either my MobileMe ID, so sync that id with its mail, calendar etc, or my iTunes ID which would allow me to sync my music.

As it stands I don't see how I could sync everything as I am unable to consolidate the two IDs into one.

Yes it's about time they did this.