icloud grade: C+

[mysterioustko]

Let me preface this post with this: Please respond with intelligent non-fanboyish responses. I think the concept of the iCloud is fine and all but I think Apple could have and should have done more. Being able to sync your contacts and calendars is a feature that I feel like was a given. Besides that all it seems they added was the ability to sync your media (pics, vids, and media) to the cloud. It is a nice feature that changes to documents are pushed to other Mac devices but I feel like they could have done better.

The same way they allow a Windows user to have their pics pushed to the "Pictures" folder, is the same way they could have made it so that documents that have been changed could be pushed to the device. Better yet it could have been done in similar fashion as Dropbox does (for those that don't know, Dropbox shows up as a folder on your computer but the contents of it is actually on the cloud).

Also, it seems that the music portion of definitely could have been done better. I don't understand why you should have to download your music to your device to play it. A better way to do it would have been to give the option of streaming from the cloud or playing it locally from the device (a la Google Music Beta).

One final thing that I find alarming (and hopefully it won't actually be this way) is that they say the cloud will not keep a warehouse of your pics and that they will remain there for 30 days. They stated that if you want to keep the pics that you would need to simply select save to album. My issue is, what if a person takes a lot of pictures (ie. they have small kids) and they don't remember to "save to album" each picture they want. Will that person eventually lose those pics at the end of 30 days? Hopefully that will not be the case, otherwise I can see that becoming a problem very quickly.

Overall I give the iCloud a grade of C+. It's average to slightly above average but needs improvement.

What do you guys think? Again, please respond with reasonable and intelligent posts. Thanks.

 

[saving107]

Let me preface this post with this: Please respond with intelligent non-fanboyish responses.

Ok Mr. Moderator

 

[Gen]

They stated that if you want to keep the pics that you would need to simply select save to album. My issue is, what if a person takes a lot of pictures (ie. they have small kids) and they don't remember to "save to album" each picture they want.

Take on iPhone.
Save on iPod touch, iPad or any computer ... and, your computer saves your entire "photo stream".

You want Apple to store EVERYONE's photo libraries in the cloud? That's insane and goes to show you know nothing about the cost of online storage.

 

[mysterioustko]

Take on iPhone.
Save on iPod touch, iPad or any computer ... and, your computer saves your entire "photo stream".

You want Apple to store EVERYONE's photo libraries in the cloud? That's insane and goes to show you know nothing about the cost of online storage.

Obviously you don't pay attention to detail....so before you decide to attack someone, try to at least know what you're talking about. Apple is giving users 5 gigs of cloud storage (which is pretty standard across the cloud storage industry), not including itunes purchased music. So as long as a user is using less than 5 gigs of storage then it shouldn't matter if the pic is older than 30 days. Hopefully it won't work in the way it seems.

 

[nutmac]

Being able to sync your contacts and calendars is a feature that I feel like was a given. Besides that all it seems they added was the ability to sync your media (pics, vids, and media) to the cloud.

Since iCloud is not yet out for public consumption, I will use the presentation and website as sources of my reply.

Yes, iCloud is a catch up to Android and other smartphone platforms in many ways. But the key differentiation is the ease and comprehensiveness. For instance, none of the smartphone platforms backs up as much data as iCloud and iOS 5 will, which include purchased music, apps, and books, camera roll, device settings, app data, home screen app organization, SMS and MMS, and ringtones. On the other hand, Android only backs up whatever is mirrored by Google's web applications (e.g., Gmail, Google Calendar).

And with iOS 5, when you get a new iOS device, all you have to is enter your ID and password. With Android and others, things are not as 1-step.

Better yet it could have been done in similar fashion as Dropbox does (for those that don't know, Dropbox shows up as a folder on your computer but the contents of it is actually on the cloud).

It's up to applications to provide this functionality, which will initially include Apple's own iWork apps. On iWork, every documents, spreadsheets, and presentations are automatically synced to iCloud. I am not sure about versioning though (which is a feature of Dropbox).

One final thing that I find alarming (and hopefully it won't actually be this way) is that they say the cloud will not keep a warehouse of your pics and that they will remain there for 30 days. They stated that if you want to keep the pics that you would need to simply select save to album. My issue is, what if a person takes a lot of pictures (ie. they have small kids) and they don't remember to "save to album" each picture they want.

That's not exactly how Photo Stream works. Photo Stream is about (1) expanding your storage capacity beyond your mobile device's and (2) wirelessly syncing photos across multiple iOS devices, Mac, and PC.

For instance, when iPhone is connected to WiFi, every photos in the camera roll are automatically uploaded to iCloud. iCloud stores up to 1000 photos (1001st photo will replace the oldest photo) for 30 days. You can then delete photos on your iPhone (and use the space for other things), but still have access for 30 days to download into other iOS device, Mac, or PC. Mac and PC can be configured to automatically download all the photos from iCloud.

Yes, in an ideal world, there won't be 1000 photos with 30 days expiration date. But let's keep in mind that this feature is offered at no cost to you. I suspect rumored Time Capsule will double as another sync point, eliminating your 1000 photos + 30 days fear (and perhaps paid iCloud tier).