MobileMe Revamp to Focus on Streaming Data From Individual Machines, Not Cloud?

[itsPhil]

Not Apple's style....

First off, who knows?! It wouldn't shock me, as it seems like a great solution that Apple could pull off.

However, this strikes me as a stark departure from Apple's normal operating procedure and quality control.

Typically Apple likes to be in total control over any aspect of a product that has to do with quality. This is evident in the iOS development platform, non-removable batteries in products, and so on.

Streaming content from a user's computer will present challenges for streaming quality that extend far beyond the reach of what Apple can control. The user experience would depend on ISP performance and hardware configuration of a user's home computer.

I would expect to see something similar to the following from Apple:

Cloud-based streaming that doesn't require giving users storage for their libraries. Theoretically all of the music in the iTunes Store can exist in one place for everyone. MobileMe can gain integration with iTunes so that users will be granted some type of license for each of their purchases. This would enable a user to stream directly from iTunes once it could be confirmed that the user had the right to stream it.

 

[ShiftyPig]

Please tell me this past week of news isn't indicative of a post-Jobs Apple.

 

[thesmileman]

The actual storage will be on our individual machines. In effect, in the cloud.[/url]

Apparently this guy doesn't understand what "The Cloud" really is.

 

[WildCowboy]

Does anyone with a blog now get their opinions on the front page?

Nope, but well-respected journalists with over a decade of experience covering Apple and with a number of well-connected sources sometimes get theirs published, especially when there are hints that it's not mere speculation.

 

[Kavok]

Buy Dropbox. There's your solution.

Indeed, Dropbox is the best thing to come around in a long while where all this "cloud" stuff is concerned. What MobileMe (.Mac, etc.) should have been in the first place.

 

[j-a-x]

Come on Apple, make it free! Or at least much cheaper! Then I'd use it.

 

[redkamel]

Tthis makes no sense to me for music or media using cell service. People listen to music and watch movies in places like parks/rural areas, subways, trains, office buildings, small boring offices...in other words, places known for bad cell phone connections. Even in big cities personal cloud would be undependable...and imagine the effect on iOS experience if the reception sucks while you are listening to music, which is cemented as an ipod function in people's heads. Its going to need a big buffer.

I think its more likely they will make this mobile-me+ available for over wi-fi for free and see how much it is used when people have wi-fi access, then expand to cellular service. Unfortunately that first phase curbs all the places people REALLY want to listen to their music and read documents. I'll be interested to see how this service plays out and what Verizona and ATT have to say.

 

[bpfesq]

I REALLY wish they'd hurry up and release the iPad 2 so everyone can bitch about what it doesn't do, because these new rumors various Apple products are getting more and more absurd.


T'would be funny if Apple is leaking false information just to eff with all of these rumor mills.

 

[0815]

Please tell me this past week of news isn't indicative of a post-Jobs Apple.

I also had this scary thought ....

Come on, what's next? A $300 stripped down iMac and $350 MacBook with cheap ****** components?

 

[MacAddict1978]

Funny. Apple doesn't let you re-download anything now. You lose it, you have to re-purchase it. And I don't know if they legally can keep a back up of things they don't have in the store. The music labels always hit apple hard with their contracts.

That big data center is for something.

And Apple ALREADY has backups of your iTunes music, video, and apps (since you bought from there to begin with; and Apple might even keep a backup even of items that are no longer for sale). But your app data, settings, contacts etc. need a place to back up to.

I do think that could turn out to be just one part of the new options, though.

(I personally don’t want to stream everything... but as one low-cost option for those who want it, I have no objection. I can still do things the way I want!)

 

[nylonsteel]

pulling data from my own machine sounds better than aapl based vault

 

[notabadname]

This rumor doesn't ring true either. So you are out for the day, or traveling and you need to leave your "Individual machine" on back at home (or wherever) out of sleep mode. There's a environmental step backward.

 

[hitekalex]

the music which you buy from itunes is already on their server so who needs 100 gb

bingo!

Why do you assume people have must of their media content purchased from iTunes?? None of my music (about 60GB worth) is purchased from iTunes, and about 70% of it is not even available for sale on iTunes store (it's obscure stuff that will never be sold by Apple).

Same applies to movies, and obviously photos.

 

[trip1ex]

What so now we can sync our Iphone with iTunes on our pc??????

WOW!!!!

 

[morespce54]

OK maybe I'm crazy and this has probably been said but what happens when I'm carrying my macbook pro in my bag, on a plane, or its just asleep somewhere. How do I stream music then? I'm sure there's an easy work around for it being asleep but a major problem arrises when my computer isn't online. This sounds great in theory but it probably needs a ton or work. I would imagine that the basic service like streaming from your connected computer is free but a storage on the cloud service would cost money.

Ok, I guess I'm in the wrong thread or I misread the story but there would be no streaming involved (except the first time on each machine, once in a while, whenever you want and/or whenever your laptop/desktop is on). The data will be on each device (if that's what you want). MobileMe would only store a XML listing file (or whatever) including the location of each of your files on every device. Thus allowing you to sync (not stream) your selected file(s) on selected device(s) when you want.

Just like a perfect mix of "Home Sharing", "Back to My Mac" and "Time capsule"...


Only my 2 cents...

 

[oliversl]

crazy rummors latelly, just give an iPhone for 200 $, 4GB flash and a free @me.com so I can get out of gmail

 

[GQB]

More like: iPhone PC: iPhone: Piece of Crap

The iPhone is about status, why dummy it down???

Wow... having projection issues much?
Great contribution to the thread.

 

[MacBOS]

I'd like to see some enhancements to Apple Timecapsule. I should be able to backup/sync my iPhone/iPad to that.

that is not a bad idea

 

[ArcaneDevice]

Ever since iTools went to a pay model Apple have floundered and in most cases just let the service drift around overpriced and aimless.

This is yet another revamp. They don't have any direction when it comes to the MobileMeHobby and I expect in another 18 months when they remember the service still exists they'll rebrand it to something else.

MobileMe should be largely free again in some form - especially email. Paying for an email address? Idiotic.

The majority of people on this forum probably don't even remember the grand announcement and promise of iTools by Jobs. That didn't last. As long as Apple users are content with giving Apple money for something they clearly do not care about optimizing then I guess it will stay overpriced and under-performing for ever.

 

[GQB]

Please tell me this past week of news isn't indicative of a post-Jobs Apple.

Care to detail something that would have been different?
Don't get your point. The release of an 8 month old device on another network was never going to be the world stopper it was in June.
You have something else in mind?

 

[GadgetGav]

Please tell me this past week of news isn't indicative of a post-Jobs Apple.

This past week of news isn't indicative of a post-Jobs Apple.

There, is that better? Just know that the stories this week are not "news" they are rumors and guesses. There have been rumors of an iPhone nano since the original iPhone came out. None has proven true so far. Also, anything announced this year is not "post-Jobs". Apple had machines with Intel chips for a couple of years before they announced them to the public. They've been testing the Verizon iPhone for a year. They're probably getting some 'retina' display iPad screens delivered for the iPad 3... These things don't just pop out fully formed in a matter of months. And Apple isn't even post-Jobs yet anyway! He was seen on campus a few days ago. The company is bigger than one man and his legacy even if he left for good tomorrow would be felt for a few years at least.

Relax, stop reading these guess-work stories if it worries you. Wait and see what's really released. There will be an iPad announcement in the spring and a new iPhone in the summer. That's pretty much all that's really known so far.

 

[0815]

Indeed, Dropbox is the best thing to come around in a long while where all this "cloud" stuff is concerned. What MobileMe (.Mac, etc.) should have been in the first place.

Dropbox is truly the best of both worlds. Synchronization through the cloud but still local copy (and fast access) if I don't have connection.

I hope MobileMe will morph to this behavior where I can access everything through the cloud, can select what I have synched locally and what I want to access through the cloud - than I can have the most important stuff local and the rest in the cloud. One thing changes on one machine, it's getting synched to all.

 

[BJMRamage]

I thought this was a great way to do it.
Funny how there are some complaining about hosting a live connection for use...
Couple months back some posters were complaining about giving Apple their data to “hold” and fear of Apple looking at their stuff.

A very nice step into the cloud (per se)

 

[williedigital]

M hm

So there may be some kind of power efficient apple home server product coming to go with this? I'd guess ARM powered. Could be very slick...

Something like the apple TV (very low power draw when left on 24/7) integrated with something "drobo-like". I would imagine two models, one with a single drive (no redundancy and $250ish) and one with 3-4 drive bays (raid5-like redundancy and $500ish). Ethernet and 802.11N and based around home sharing (airport extreme program to manage). I imagine it using the 450MB 3*3 802.11N and debut alongside an updated and marketed Airport Extreme and Express.

 

[jp102235]

So there may be some kind of power efficient apple home server product coming to go with this? I'd guess ARM powered. Could be very slick...

yea - time capsule and the airport extreme base station already do this (must be a mm subscriber though). soooo
this is actually much more believable now. -> all you need is the idevice to be smart enough to connect to your itunes over the air through the TM/AE portal (most likely 3g won't be allowed).
Although video is most likely not their target, to stream it they would need to implement a transcoding scheme for slow connections (maybe when you import to itunes it pre-transcodes the video for you - beforehand).

They really need to work on mobile me on a grander scale -> they need to implement the dropbox style file handling and improve the speed and file share capabilities... is getting outclassed by dropbox.
j