4 ms·

iCloud is a joke. Like eWorld. Like .Mac. Like MobileMe. You can’t do this stuff. This, I predict, is going to turn out to be Apple's achilles heel. They make

iCloud is a joke. Like eWorld. Like .Mac. Like MobileMe. You can’t do this stuff. This, I predict, is going to turn out to be Apple's achilles heel. They make great hardware and their software is good enough but they just don't get services. Google does services better than anybody and they're quickly closing the other gaps.

amadeus 14y ago
I don't know if you can justify statement like that from the proposed evidence. The App Store and iTunes Store are pretty damned successful services, whether you like them or not. iCloud is not a joke, it does it's job well for the 99%. I turn on my new phone, enter my apple id, and I have all my settings, apps, etc synced and ready to go.
- ripperdoc 14y ago
  That is true, but they all represent somehow the older version of connected software, as a pure extension of the device rather than a service on it's own. iCloud works great for a device as an invisible backup, but you can't use it to share files, co-operate, publish, share data between applications, etc. And I'd say the popular web services of today are so because they integrate across services and socialize the usage. Apple are still stuck 5-10 years behind.
  - rimantas 14y ago
    Well, there is some sharing (PhotoStream), but you are right in general. And even if Google is 5 years ahead (I don't think they are), and I do use google services for sharing, the thing is I don't enjoy it. Functionality is there, but experience is lacking, alas I cannot pinpoint why. Just every time I use Google docs or Google drive I want to get out as soon as possible. For this reason I don't see Apples lack of these services as a big problem and I don't see Googles offer as a big advantage. It is possible, however, that with right implementation it may become a necessity.
  - alexatkeplar 14y ago
    Agreed. The Maps fiasco is a great illustration of how Apple have an institutional blind spot around the complexity of doing online, data-driven services right - and won't invest (despite $120bn in the bank) properly to deliver these. This is the single biggest thing that relegates them to "just a consumer electronics" firm - and as we know, CE firms are lucky to have 10 years on top. The other interesting data point is the bidding for the new TLDs in summer 2012 (http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/rss/1136468/Amazon-Google-domain-name-frenzy/ http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/rss/1136468/Amazon-G...). Amazon and Google bidded on 150+ new TLDs between them. Apple? With $120bn in the bank, they applied for... .apple. Even Microsoft understood the potential importance of this more than Apple (they applied for 5 or so - .live, .docs, .bing etc).
    - cageface 14y ago
      This is the single biggest thing that relegates them to "just a consumer electronics" firm - and as we know, CE firms are lucky to have 10 years on top. Yeah this is the thing exactly. Amazon and Google are essentially content plays in mobile. Devices can come and go but as long as people are using their services they're making money. Apple is a hardware play and that gave them a big first-mover advantage but unless they can keep coming up with iPhone/iPad level home runs that advantage deteriorates quickly. I will never buy anything in iBooks, for example, because I don't want to be limited to Apple's devices to read my books, even if I do currently have an iPhone, iPad and MBA. They do have some platform tie-in with iTunes Music but the writing is on the wall there. Subscription models are the way forward.
      - hippee-lee 14y ago
        I'm not sold on the long term benefit to subscription models. A well curated library has much more appeal to me than an all you can eat buffet. I have recently seen this with Netflix great service but the content I would miss the most is the kid shows that my daughter watches. The tv and movies I look forward to watching with her are not on there so in one form or snouty I curate a library that I only have to pay for once. Same for magazines and book. I keep a few subscriptions but mainly consume the content once. When I find a good book, one I will read again I put it on my library shelf and come back to it later. Subscriptions for media lock me into a singe channel if I ever want to go back. And like Netflix, who has to negotiate with the content providers for their content, with subscriptions there is no guarantee the 5-10% of quality content I like will be there when I come back.
- danieldk 14y ago
  iCloud is not a joke, it does it's job well for the 99%. I turn on my new phone, enter my apple id, and I have all my settings, apps, etc synced and ready to go. You must not have used iTunes Match on a daily basis. Very often some songs do not play at all, no matter how often you retry. Every week or so I cannot connect to the 'iTunes Cloud' at all, reducing my music library to what I have downloaded. Match and iTunes in the cloud are terribly broken.
aneth4 14y ago
What is so wrong with iCloud? It does exactly what I want it to do - back up my phone and sync my data between devices. Maybe people try to use it for more than this?
- DigitalJack 14y ago
  I can tell you what is wrong with iCloud. It's supposed to be a sort of magical data sharing, but apparently it's only partially magical when it comes to OSX. Go ahead, make a keynote deck, or numbers spreadsheet. Save it to "the cloud," now go look at your ipad or iphone. Where the hell is it? So much for magic. Sharing is a royal pain in the ass with iOS. The gyrations I have to go through to move data from an ios app to the desktop is ridiculous and often impossible. I'm hopeful they will get iCloud up to spec eventually, but for now it just sucks.
  - ricw 14y ago
    Couldn't agree more. How about photos, something supposedly mainstream?! Have fun recreating all the events/albums/locations on each device. It's just a pain to deal with. Instead, I save my iPhoto library on Dropbox so that I can sync it between devices. Sub-optimal, to say the least. Apple services have always been underwhelming.
    - coob 14y ago
      I have a feeling iCloud is just testing the waters with Photo Stream. Full on cloud hosting of photo libraries is a large undertaking requiring masses of storage. I expect it will come eventually.
  - comex 14y ago
    It's indeed hard to defend the lagginess, but since the praise is going to Google, it's worth noting that iCloud predates Drive by quite a while, and as far as I know, although you can use a combination of Drive, Google Cloud Messaging, and the Backup API to get a similar experience on Android, it's relatively complicated.

amadeus 14y ago

I don't know if you can justify statement like that from the proposed evidence. The App Store and iTunes Store are pretty damned successful services, whether you like them or not. iCloud is not a joke, it does it's job well for the 99%. I turn on my new phone, enter my apple id, and I have all my settings, apps, etc synced and ready to go.

ripperdoc 14y ago
That is true, but they all represent somehow the older version of connected software, as a pure extension of the device rather than a service on it's own. iCloud works great for a device as an invisible backup, but you can't use it to share files, co-operate, publish, share data between applications, etc. And I'd say the popular web services of today are so because they integrate across services and socialize the usage. Apple are still stuck 5-10 years behind.
- rimantas 14y ago
  Well, there is some sharing (PhotoStream), but you are right in general. And even if Google is 5 years ahead (I don't think they are), and I do use google services for sharing, the thing is I don't enjoy it. Functionality is there, but experience is lacking, alas I cannot pinpoint why. Just every time I use Google docs or Google drive I want to get out as soon as possible. For this reason I don't see Apples lack of these services as a big problem and I don't see Googles offer as a big advantage. It is possible, however, that with right implementation it may become a necessity.
- alexatkeplar 14y ago
  Agreed. The Maps fiasco is a great illustration of how Apple have an institutional blind spot around the complexity of doing online, data-driven services right - and won't invest (despite $120bn in the bank) properly to deliver these. This is the single biggest thing that relegates them to "just a consumer electronics" firm - and as we know, CE firms are lucky to have 10 years on top. The other interesting data point is the bidding for the new TLDs in summer 2012 (http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/rss/1136468/Amazon-Google-domain-name-frenzy/ http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/rss/1136468/Amazon-G...). Amazon and Google bidded on 150+ new TLDs between them. Apple? With $120bn in the bank, they applied for... .apple. Even Microsoft understood the potential importance of this more than Apple (they applied for 5 or so - .live, .docs, .bing etc).
  - cageface 14y ago
    This is the single biggest thing that relegates them to "just a consumer electronics" firm - and as we know, CE firms are lucky to have 10 years on top. Yeah this is the thing exactly. Amazon and Google are essentially content plays in mobile. Devices can come and go but as long as people are using their services they're making money. Apple is a hardware play and that gave them a big first-mover advantage but unless they can keep coming up with iPhone/iPad level home runs that advantage deteriorates quickly. I will never buy anything in iBooks, for example, because I don't want to be limited to Apple's devices to read my books, even if I do currently have an iPhone, iPad and MBA. They do have some platform tie-in with iTunes Music but the writing is on the wall there. Subscription models are the way forward.
    - hippee-lee 14y ago
      I'm not sold on the long term benefit to subscription models. A well curated library has much more appeal to me than an all you can eat buffet. I have recently seen this with Netflix great service but the content I would miss the most is the kid shows that my daughter watches. The tv and movies I look forward to watching with her are not on there so in one form or snouty I curate a library that I only have to pay for once. Same for magazines and book. I keep a few subscriptions but mainly consume the content once. When I find a good book, one I will read again I put it on my library shelf and come back to it later. Subscriptions for media lock me into a singe channel if I ever want to go back. And like Netflix, who has to negotiate with the content providers for their content, with subscriptions there is no guarantee the 5-10% of quality content I like will be there when I come back.
danieldk 14y ago
iCloud is not a joke, it does it's job well for the 99%. I turn on my new phone, enter my apple id, and I have all my settings, apps, etc synced and ready to go. You must not have used iTunes Match on a daily basis. Very often some songs do not play at all, no matter how often you retry. Every week or so I cannot connect to the 'iTunes Cloud' at all, reducing my music library to what I have downloaded. Match and iTunes in the cloud are terribly broken.

aneth4 14y ago

What is so wrong with iCloud? It does exactly what I want it to do - back up my phone and sync my data between devices. Maybe people try to use it for more than this?

DigitalJack 14y ago
I can tell you what is wrong with iCloud. It's supposed to be a sort of magical data sharing, but apparently it's only partially magical when it comes to OSX. Go ahead, make a keynote deck, or numbers spreadsheet. Save it to "the cloud," now go look at your ipad or iphone. Where the hell is it? So much for magic. Sharing is a royal pain in the ass with iOS. The gyrations I have to go through to move data from an ios app to the desktop is ridiculous and often impossible. I'm hopeful they will get iCloud up to spec eventually, but for now it just sucks.
- ricw 14y ago
  Couldn't agree more. How about photos, something supposedly mainstream?! Have fun recreating all the events/albums/locations on each device. It's just a pain to deal with. Instead, I save my iPhoto library on Dropbox so that I can sync it between devices. Sub-optimal, to say the least. Apple services have always been underwhelming.
  - coob 14y ago
    I have a feeling iCloud is just testing the waters with Photo Stream. Full on cloud hosting of photo libraries is a large undertaking requiring masses of storage. I expect it will come eventually.
- comex 14y ago
  It's indeed hard to defend the lagginess, but since the praise is going to Google, it's worth noting that iCloud predates Drive by quite a while, and as far as I know, although you can use a combination of Drive, Google Cloud Messaging, and the Backup API to get a similar experience on Android, it's relatively complicated.