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Apple Working to Create its Own Cloud Storage Infrastructure
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McQueen... could this be a bit of foreshadowing for Apple's cloud services? Code naming your project after a guy who lived hard and fast... and died early from a couple of heart attacks.
Services are definitely not in Apple's wheelhouse.
Services are definitely not in Apple's wheelhouse.
I wish Apple would make cloud syncing more intelligent.
For example, let's say I'm at home on my WiFi, and I take a 150MB video with my iPhone.
As soon as I finish taking the video, the phone will upload the video via WiFi to iCloud.
Then my Mac and iPad will each download the video from iCloud. Total usage: 450MB for a 150MB video.
Instead, the iPhone should upload the video to iCloud, and the Mac and iPad should transfer the video directly from the phone using the local network. All three devices will now have the video, and the total usage is just the 150MB upload.
This shouldn't be too hard to implement. Every asset has a unique global identifier associated with it, and it would be trivial for the devices to stay in touch with each other on the local network so one can ask around "Does anyone have this asset locally before I download it from the Internet?"
For example, let's say I'm at home on my WiFi, and I take a 150MB video with my iPhone.
As soon as I finish taking the video, the phone will upload the video via WiFi to iCloud.
Then my Mac and iPad will each download the video from iCloud. Total usage: 450MB for a 150MB video.
Instead, the iPhone should upload the video to iCloud, and the Mac and iPad should transfer the video directly from the phone using the local network. All three devices will now have the video, and the total usage is just the 150MB upload.
This shouldn't be too hard to implement. Every asset has a unique global identifier associated with it, and it would be trivial for the devices to stay in touch with each other on the local network so one can ask around "Does anyone have this asset locally before I download it from the Internet?"
Yay for free stuff!...
With around 1 billion+ customer iTunes accounts, I'm sure that 1TB per customer would cost very little - in both capital expenditures for the huge data center infrastructure (and backup center), as well as recurring engineering costs to staff it and keep it going reliably.
Since Apple is supposed to be giving away free stuff to all, heck, I want a free Apple Watch. Why? I'm entitled to free stuff (because I don't like paying for things), and Apple exists to make sure that happens!
Based on this article, there's no way we're getting more than 5 GB free anytime soon. If they're in the middle of trying to develop their own cloud storage infrastructure because their current partners aren't cutting it, we're a long way away from more free storage.
Does not google give 15GB free space to their customers? Apparently their infrastructure "cuts" it quite all right. Whether Apple wants to pay for it (for the benefit of its customers) is a totally different matter.
I'm shocked that Apple allowed it's reliance on Google to be revealed.
The creative brilliance and generosity of Google as it continues to supply great software products for free, has made the world a better place.
Hoards of Google detractors only reveal their ignorance. Closet Google lovers that lack courage to be truthful.
Then wouldn't the same logic come into play when they run low on local storage warning. They would think they had 10 gigs more.
There is a tutorial or two or three about iCloud storage all over when setting up phone and first time starting certain apps.
Apple is using a hodgepodge of solutions to make iCloud work. I don't know how well it would work for Apple to rely entirely on Google's infrastructure... and obviously, we'll never know. My point is, if they're ever going to give us more free storage, it's surely not happening right now.
Apple should add Lima-like capabilities to its Time Capsule product and just charge us for new features for it every year. Let iCloud be ourselves. They have momentum with their privacy policies and FBI bullocks.
You're not willing to pay 3.3 cents per day for 20GB of cloud storage?
I'm guessing you are not aware how google makes money to pay for their infrastructure so their "users" can get things for "free?"
That sounds like a good guess, but can anyone say with some authority what the data centers are for then? I was sure that they were for iCloud and that Apple was doing its own CDN. What's the deal. Anyone?
Apple knows how much it's worth to you by how much you're willing to pay for it. If it's worth less to you than a cup of coffee, why should they bother for something that that's worthless to you?
This is a joke, right? Apple can't even keep my Safari passwords synced (resulting in having to create a new account here) when it's supposed to remember these things across various devices. IBooks is upposed to do a similar thing. And podcasts. (And yes, syncing is turned on everywhere). But none of them work consistently. So sure, their own cloud system is going to be top notch. One can only wait and see if their half-assed under implemention with other services is going balance out with half-assed over implementation with their own cloud system.
Selling ads. What do you think they do? Besides Apple is sitting on a horde much larger than Google, both in revenue and profit. Between customers and Apple, which could withstand the 3.3 cents per day better?
I've never understood how certain customers rationalize giving a company not only more of their money but try to convince others it's a good idea. To each his own.
It is ridiculously small by comparison to the competition. But if you rely on it there's always the pay option. I personally don't use clouds. I just look at them.
64GB USB3.0 flash drives are now below $30 and much faster. I also don't use dropbox unless it is for sharing purposes.
The whole cloud thing was always suspect to me, but that's just me.
Maybe it's because I worked in that industry too long
What's driving Apple's decision is probably the same thing that motivated Dropbox to abandon Amazon's AWS and build their own cloud. This Wired magazine interview explains:
http://www.wired.com/2016/03/epic-story-dropboxs-exodus-amazon-cloud-empire/
http://www.wired.com/2016/03/epic-story-dropboxs-exodus-amazon-cloud-empire/
Remember when Apple created something from scratch like Apple Maps? We all know how that turned out. I would say just stick to doing what Apple is good at and leave the nitty gritty stuff to the companies that actually have experience in doing so.
At the end of the day, it's just another cost cutting measure by Apple to save a few billion that never gets taxed.
At the end of the day, it's just another cost cutting measure by Apple to save a few billion that never gets taxed.
McQueen... could this be a bit of foreshadowing for Apple's cloud services? Code naming your project after a guy who lived hard and fast... and died early from a couple of heart attacks.
50s not massively early... Life expectancy in 1930 was only 58.
Anyway. Perhaps it's named after the very much alive Steve McQueen. It's the Fassbender connection...
Though I think it's probably more likely a thinly veiled reference to their "Great Escape" (from Google, Amazon etc). Their "Getaway". Perhaps they'll build one in Cincinatti. Maybe it's a hint they're building (a Magnificent) 7 data centres.
Let's hope it doesn't make them An Enemy of the People.
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Because Amazon and Google are renowned the world over for paying their fair share of tax?
I dunno, my mind's word association went
cloud --> lightning
Lightning --> McQueen
and figured the job was finished. Nothing deeper!
It's not a rationalization. Some people believe it's reasonable to pay 3.3 cents a day for 20 TB of cloud storage, seeing that as a decent value.
If you believe companies should give you stuff for free, that's fine. As you say, to each his own.
However... Maybe a better job would help you swing that extra cost?
All of these data centers and the cloud infrastructure Apple is investing in will be a big waste if Apple loses the trust of its current (and future) customers.
Let's hope Apple's lawyers are worth their salaries. I guess we'll find out soon enough. The big showdown begins this coming Tuesday.
Let's hope Apple's lawyers are worth their salaries. I guess we'll find out soon enough. The big showdown begins this coming Tuesday.
It makes sense to use multiple venders. One goes down, has problems or hits limits you have spill over.
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Apple has so much damn money this is like nothing to them. The build out will pay for it self in a few years. So even if things went south, it doesn't matter.
It's pretty absurd at this stage of the industry to suggest they are going away or getting smaller anytime soon.
i'm actually concerned about them starting to use google's services. how will that affect users in china? already certain things are painfully slow here (icloud backups, uploading photos to icloud photo library from a mac - i say this because its night and day between mac and iphone, and even on ios devices its hardly lightning fast). i can download apps from iTunes on my mac at 12MB (yes megabytes) per second, yet icloud connections through the same wifi crawl like a dog with no legs. go figure.
my phone refused to finish an icloud back up at home overnight (despite being on charge for 7-8 hours straight each night) for over a week. i took it to hong kong and the backup finished automagically within an hour of being plugged in. something's not right.
my phone refused to finish an icloud back up at home overnight (despite being on charge for 7-8 hours straight each night) for over a week. i took it to hong kong and the backup finished automagically within an hour of being plugged in. something's not right.