Last Minute Thoughts on iCloud, iOS 5 as Keynote Line Begins

[Thomas2006]

My last minute thoughts:

- Lion
- iOS 5
- iCloud
- Revamped MobileMe for $49/year (incl. iCloud)
- Rebranded iDisk as iCloud for $25/year
- No @icloud.com addresses
- Dead iSync
- iCloud syncing taking over most of the iTunes bloat
- iTunes 11 for, um, tunes
- iWork '11
- June 14th, Lion launch via MAS
- Lion physical media launch 2-4 weeks later

I think we will not see iTunes 11 until after Lion is released. It will be 64-bit and will require Snow Leopard or Lion. iTunes 10 will get a few more updates before it runs like iTunes 9 does for us Tiger users.

iWork is history because its apps will be released as individual apps in the App Store, so we will not see new versions until after Lion is released, which also means no Tiger nor Leopard support. iLife will get the same treatment so no more iWeb and iDVD, but iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand will still be pre-installed on new Macs. The App Store is giving Apple a clean way to drop Leopard support.

iCloud will be a system more than a single service. One part of this will be the new AirPort Extreme which will "know" what devices use it and will periodically check for updates for those devices. If updates are available, they get downloaded and installed at the user's convenience. People who are guests on the wireless network can also take advantage of this because an update is an update. This might work between computers that are within wireless range of each other. If I am using the new iTunes 11 and you still using iTunes 10, iCloud would make it possible for you to get the iTunes package from me. Apple will make it so we can decide what updates others can find and use, just like sharing is done in iTunes now.

 

[legacyb4]

Maybe something along the lines of a consumer level Nasuni Filer which would be pretty slick; all the complexities of managing off-site backup (they've already taken care of local backup with Time Machine) plus the bells and whistles of the myriad of home NAS products.

Where - physically - will the cloud be?

A local cloud - Time Capsule - overcomes copyright problems (such as illegally secured music and movies) for Apple. It overcomes uploading problems for users with massive amounts of media. It overcomes frustrating, perpetual subscription fees for cloud services. (Think about how much Apple would charge you for uploading a terabyte of media that you want to be able to stream any time you'd like.) It ends the need to do a wired synch if the local cloud - again, Time Capsule - is able to automatically grab and save for you large downloads, such as operating system updates, until you are ready to have it pushed onto your iOS device. But it means your Time Capsule/Internet must always be on. It means you have to buy hardware. It doesn't get your content off-site, meaning it is more susceptible to loss, such as fire, flooding, drive failure.

If the cloud is hardware in your house - Time Capsule - then what is the purpose of Apple's massive new data center? Perhaps the data center is merely for your off-site backup, such as what Carbonite does; you can upload everything to the data center, but not stream any of it. You'd just have it backed up to there.

 

[toddybody]

Oh, nevermind the service, I'm just talking about the name. Usually, Apple will at least steer clear of marketing trends and "hip" buzzwords and create their own. In this case, they went with whatever everyone else was renaming their online strategies to: Cloud, which is just another name for thinclient computing.

Of course, Apple OnLine probably didn't work either seeing how you couldn't really call it AOL for short.

Personally, I like my "thin client" computing to be done locally, so I don't really care for the service itself.

I work in the DoD IT space, and hear "Cloud" thrown around far too much even there.
It could be remote storage and streaming, server computing (thin client relationship), or application pushing (virtualization) to some extent. I totally agree with you that its become a prominent market buzzword...and often used haphazardly.

Im not sure if "thin client" computing is an appropriate term...nobody's heard any rumor that Apple will be performing application hosting (like OnLive or something) , but we'll see.

Anyways, Im one of these 10GB of iTunes Music Library types anyways...32GB iP4 and iPad2 are never really full.

All I know is, I know nothing

 

[KnightWRX]

Now what you call it, "dumb down" or "simplify" or "make it accessible" doesn't make one difference; the effect is that it makes the majority of users happier and therefore improves sales, especially long term.

There's a difference between simplify and dumbing down. Dumbing down means removing flexibility and features in order to prevent confusion by the common denominator.

Simplify means to make those features usuable and intuitive or at the very least, easy to figure out to new, uneducated users.

There's a problem when you start equating "feature removal" with "simplify" and try to put a positive spin on it.

 

[OptyCT]

Oh, nevermind the service, I'm just talking about the name. Usually, Apple will at least steer clear of marketing trends and "hip" buzzwords and create their own. In this case, they went with whatever everyone else was renaming their online strategies to: Cloud, which is just another name for thinclient computing.

Of course, Apple OnLine probably didn't work either seeing how you couldn't really call it AOL for short.

Personally, I like my "thin client" computing to be done locally, so I don't really care for the service itself.

And everyone hated the name "iPad" when it was introduced.

By naming their service "iCloud", Apple is essentially staking their claim to the "cloud". Although they didn't invent cloud computing, Apple will be forever linked as one of the early innovators of cloud computing (just like they did with the MP3 player). Apple's truly effective at refining the user experience and delivering it to the masses. That's what they do best.

 

[blow45]

It was both practical, and fun, when you put on timers guys.

What's with not having one on the main page today?

 

[frankk]

I think iCloud is the new iTunes makes sense. My use of iTunes has rather outgrown what it is capable of doing well. The way it deals with photos, Pages documents is unwieldy. I would like to be able to handle any kind of file like it does with podcasts, ie it 'remembers where you were' the last time you listened to the file on a Mac or iPod. At a system level be able to deal with documents and versions of those documents across all devices. I want to be able to tell iCloud that my document is shared, I will then find it on my Mac at work, my Mac at home, my iPad and my iPhone. Any work done on any device is tracked and the document I access is always the latest version regardless of whether I have synced my iDevice, hence the necessity for iCloud over iTunes. If I don't like any changes I've made then I should be able to Time Capsule my way back in time to the version I want regardless of the last device I used. I like the way Pages remembers where you were on a document last time you closed it (I don't think Word does this?), iCloud would take this concept much further.

 

[kavika411]

I'm thinking about this a bit more. Apple has to do two things. First, it has to tighten and perfect (as much as possible) the nuts and bolts of the cloud - what it is, and how it works. But, and more importantly to Apple/Jobs, it has to make it understandable. I stick with everything I said on the prior page, but will tweak it this way.

Apple is starting Stage 1 of the cloud today. Turning your home hardware - Time Capsule - into a local cloud for streaming and manipulation and ease of access. Stage 2 - and I don't know when they will actually do it/announce it/maybe today - will be cloud computing at the data center in North Carolina, where you can compute via software lodged in the data center cloud. Heck, I don't know. I just can't figure out what the data center is for if today is going to be a local cloud announcement.

 

[d0minick]

Concerned they won't back up your porn to the cloud?

I would love for them to have that feature. If Apple TV gets 1080P playback, boy, the misses and I won't leave the house!

 

[kultschar]

Hope im wrong but i have a feeling that Mobile Me is going to be Mobile Me and iCloud nothing to do with it!!

Im hoping that iCloud will introduce Mobile Me features but allow you to use your own email address / domain.

Having a me.com address is utterly useless for my business but I require Mobile Mes syncing across multiple computers and ios devices

 

[samcraig]

Based on the quote about thinking of iCloud as iTunes (and not mobile me) - It's very possible that Apple is getting ready to go EOL on the "iTunes" name altogether. Maybe not.

But iTunes is not "tunes" any more and hasn't been for a long time. It's a whole store of apps, movies, book and, of course, music. iCloud is more generic and encompasses it all.

I could see

iCloud Music Store
iCloud App Store
iCloud Movie Store
iCloud Book Store

etc...

 

[bbeagle]

There's a difference between simplify and dumbing down. Dumbing down means removing flexibility and features in order to prevent confusion by the common denominator.

Simplify means to make those features usuable and intuitive or at the very least, easy to figure out to new, uneducated users.

There's a problem when you start equating "feature removal" with "simplify" and try to put a positive spin on it.

I disagree completely.

When you simplify anything, you must reduce the steps involved. Therefore, the something must be chosen for you, thus 'removing a feature' according to you.

Please give me ONE instance of something that is 'simplified' without 'removing a feature'. Please. You gave me your definition.

 

[KnightWRX]

And everyone hated the name "iPad" when it was introduced.

Yes, and 2 weeks earlier you had Steve Ballmer claiming all these tablet computers were called Slate, and that the industry had standardized on Slate Computing to refer to them. Apple broke the "mold" so to speak.

By naming their service "iCloud", Apple is essentially staking their claim to the "cloud". Although they didn't invent cloud computing, Apple will be forever linked as one of the early innovators of cloud computing (just like they did with the MP3 player). Apple's truly effective at refining the user experience and delivering it to the masses. That's what they do best.

That's my point, Apple is about 30 years late for Cloud computing. Cloud computing is not a new concept, it's a new marketing buzzword. And instead of Apple just naming their service something innovative, they went the iMarketingTerm route, which is quite bland for them, especially since they are usually marketing masters.

 

[jouster]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

Hate the name... can't wait to see what the service actually is going to be.

I think it's rather funny that Apple is jumping on the whole Cloud marketing bandwagon. Seems sheepish and uninnovative to me, especially considering the "Cloud" thing is not even a new concept, only a new marketing buzzword for a concept that has existed for decades.

Which is why they are doing it. They have proved repeatedly that their expertise lies in taking poorly-executed concepts an turning them into colossal money-makers.

 

[KnightWRX]

I disagree completely.

When you simplify anything, you must reduce the steps involved. Therefore, the something must be chosen for you, thus 'removing a feature' according to you.

There's no need to remove features to simplify. You can easily just go with sensible defaults.

Simplify, for me, means hiding complexity, not removing it.

Please give me ONE instance of something that is 'simplified' without 'removing a feature'. Please. You gave me your definition.

OS X ? All the complexity and flexibility of Unix, yet, Grandma can use it without blinking.

 

[kultschar]

I'm thinking about this a bit more. Apple has to do two things. First, it has to tighten and perfect (as much as possible) the nuts and bolts of the cloud - what it is, and how it works. But, and more importantly to Apple/Jobs, it has to make it understandable. I stick with everything I said on the prior page, but will tweak it this way.

Apple is starting Stage 1 of the cloud today. Turning your home hardware - Time Capsule - into a local cloud for streaming and manipulation and ease of access. Stage 2 - and I don't know when they will actually do it/announce it/maybe today - will be cloud computing at the data center in North Carolina, where you can compute via software lodged in the data center cloud. Heck, I don't know. I just can't figure out what the data center is for if today is going to be a local cloud announcement.

Why local cloud? Just because of the other rumour article?

Cant see it being this personally as it will be a huge disappointment for mot people. Who the hell has Time Capsules? I know people have em but the percentage must be tiny!!

 

[blow45]

Yes, and 2 weeks earlier you had Steve Ballmer claiming all these tablet computers were called Slate, and that the industry had standardized on Slate Computing to refer to them. Apple broke the "mold" so to speak.



That's my point, Apple is about 30 years late for Cloud computing. Cloud computing is not a new concept, it's a new marketing buzzword. And instead of Apple just naming their service something innovation, they went the iMarketingTerm route, which is quite bland for them, especially since they are usually marketing masters.

whatever limited infrastructure for networking they had 30 or even 10 or 20 years ago, wasn't the cloud that's for sure. I don't think the cloud is marketing speak, it is a buzzword for sure, but it's not a vapid one, like say web 2.0 (and a silly one for that matter). It means a lot because this cloud, this incarnation of networking with very fast internet servers that aggregate mail too, and sync, is indeed something novel, despite sharing common heritage with other networking technologies.

 

[jclardy]

I think the iCloud is going to be more than just off-site backup and "local" streaming from a TimeCapsule.

Apple has the opportunity to create a "continuous client" with their iOS and Mac computing devices.

Think about it...many apps cross over from mac to iPad/iPhone. But to keep these in sync the app has to implement some kind of sync technology, probably local over wifi.

With the iCloud they could release an API that allows a developer to sync a database to the cloud, or sync a users documents directory to the cloud. Work on a Pages document on your mac, put it to sleep and add a few edits on the train all without even thinking about syncing as the system does it automatically.

I could be completely wrong, but this is what I am hoping for.

Now there are a few issues though, one being every carrier moving to tiered data plans which would mean images/videos wouldn't be automatically uploaded. Maybe items of a certain size would wait until you have a wifi connection.

Then there is the music streaming part. Some people are guessing that it will require a time capsule, but I don't think so. If that were the case then they wouldn't have had to make all the deals with the music labels, as people can already stream their music from a local machine to the internet with services like Orb.

But I am pretty excited to see what comes about...

 

[KamuiVII]

anyone know if Jobs keynote will be streamed ?

 

[smc333]

MobileMe should be like my American Express card.

I'm happy to pay $25 a year for a superior service, one with a better appearance (See me.com vs live.com or hotmail.com), such as for my Zync card. But $125 a year/$100 a year for MobileMe and a Gold Amex is too much for not enough benefit.

 

[blow45]

Why local cloud? Just because of the other rumour article?

Cant see it being this personally as it will be a huge disappointment for mot people. Who the hell has Time Capsules? I know people have em but the percentage must be tiny!!

As we 've said countless times here the time capsules (if they retain the name) will be used as a buffer to the cloud, to preload, to sync later, etc. etc. This is both a very clever and a very simple way to optimize cloud storage when you lack, a. the speed, and b. the ample space.

It will be great if they do this, but few people realize this now so they doth protest too much as per usual before launches.

 

[toddybody]

I disagree completely.

When you simplify anything, you must reduce the steps involved. Therefore, the something must be chosen for you, thus 'removing a feature' according to you.

Please give me ONE instance of something that is 'simplified' without 'removing a feature'. Please. You gave me your definition.

This happens all the time. Its called "innovation". Reducing steps doesn't equate to reducing capabilities. UI's are a great example of how computing has been simplified while not removing any features of the preexisting system...I can still navigate Windows via command prompt (If I were a glutton for punishment)

 

[Joshwawilson]

I hope iOS 5 is a complete overhaul of iOS, is like to see something like with jailbroken devices where you can completely edit the layout of icons

 

[Madonepro]

All these great wifi syncing features, but useless if your cellular and broadband/cable providers cannot provide adequate services.

I'm lucky to be able to get a good enough connection to update address book!

 

[blow45]

these last effing hours feel longer than the past months we had to wait, lol.

I am very excited about today, not one but two major os releases revealed, as well as the major addition of the cloud, and the wild card of some new hardware too.