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Apple Introduces iCloud
Apple's Expected Jump Into the Cloud Arrives

Speaking at today's WWDC conference, Apple essentially stated that MobileMe is dead, and all of their devices will utilize cloud storage. The company also introduced MobileMe's replacement that will launch this fall: iCloud. Via the new free iCloud service, all device data including calendar, mail, contacts, apps, and photos -- will be backed up on Apple's servers (Jobs took time to highlight the company's latest and greatest server farm).

Users will get 5GB of free storage (not including a new Photo Stream photo-synching service, and purchased apps, music or books), and up to ten devices can connect to one iCloud account. There's also significant iTunes integration and a service called iTunes Match, which will let you store "music you’ve ripped from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes" for $24.99 per year, if it's a song already available in iTunes.

Additional detail can be found at the iCloud website, and as always you can find Apple-related discussion in our All Things Macintosh forum.
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Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

installs in place is not a good fit for all.

How will a office get mac os 10.7 as iTunes is a max of 5 systems?

will there be away so you just have to download it 1 time?

How will I be able to do a clean install with a download only os?

Will I have to use the apple store to install it on a new HDD?

As it makes clean installs needed extra step of installing 10.6 then downloading and installing the app store os update and then downloading and installing 10.7 after that.

now even at home I don't want have to download the same 4GB installer on each system.

MS makes it so much easier with smaller windows updates, install disks and iso's , WSUS (can be set up Windows Home Server) and windows Service Pack can be downloaded 1 time and used on many systems.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: installs in place is not a good fit for all.

i'm going to make a time machine backup first thing after I install 10.7 and then use that "fresh" backup to restore to whatever other system or hard drive I am using when I need to install.

StBrandon
@charter.com

StBrandon to Joe12345678

Anon

to Joe12345678
If you run a Mac server you can typically push the update to the machines on the network. I will assume that the new Server software will allow this.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to Joe12345678

Premium Member

to Joe12345678
I don't get it either. Besides printing and distribution costs, I don't understand the allure of purchasing an OS from the app store, unless I can burn the installer to a disc and boot it from a clean hard drive.

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
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join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious to Joe12345678

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to Joe12345678
said by Joe12345678:

How will a office get mac os 10.7 as iTunes is a max of 5 systems?

Because it's not being licensed through iTunes store but through the Mac App store.

$29 gets you the OS for all your (authorized) Mac computers.
Expand your moderator at work

Polycarp
@165.27.246.x

Polycarp

Anon

Cool!

This sounds good to me as an iPad 2 user.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5

Premium Member

Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

quote:
service called iTunes Match, which will let you store "music you’ve ripped from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes" for $24.99 per year.
The Amazon cloud player and music streaming is free and it streams to my iPad just fine. No $25/yr needed.

Edrick
I aspire to tell the story of a lifetime
Premium Member
join:2004-09-11
San Diego, CA

Edrick

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

said by FFH5:

quote:
service called iTunes Match, which will let you store "music you’ve ripped from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes" for $24.99 per year.
The Amazon cloud player and music streaming is free and it streams to my iPad just fine. No $25/yr needed.

That's good for them, except iTunes "Match" isn't a streaming service. It's intended as a service to allow you to physically sync all your music that is purchased through iTunes and if you have ripped music iTunes Match will give you a DRM free copy of a high bit rate. Which means you don't need to be connected to the "cloud" or have internet connection eating your data package. Which is confusing on how they market it, because a physical copy is stored on the cloud however that's not where it lives. It lives on the local device.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

said by Edrick:

said by FFH5:

quote:
service called iTunes Match, which will let you store "music you’ve ripped from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes" for $24.99 per year.
The Amazon cloud player and music streaming is free and it streams to my iPad just fine. No $25/yr needed.

That's good for them, except iTunes "Match" isn't a streaming service.

Yeah, it sucks that you can't stream the itunes song on the cloud.

With my google music songs i can listen (stream) them on any PC, as well as android devices. I just have to log in to my google services.

the only downside is i have to upload all my songs, and since this isn't a dialup age, i have no problem uploading the thousands of songs from my computer.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

An extensive comparison of Apple, Google, Amazon music services:
»news.yahoo.com/s/zd/2011 ··· d/265333

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue to FFH5

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to FFH5
Google Music does the same thing on all my devices!

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
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join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious to FFH5

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to FFH5
said by FFH5:

The Amazon cloud player and music streaming is free and it streams to my iPad just fine. No $25/yr needed.

Only Amazon purchases are free; after 5GB of non-Amazon music (I have 10s of GBs from emusic.com, for example), you have to pay.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

said by darcilicious:

said by FFH5:

The Amazon cloud player and music streaming is free and it streams to my iPad just fine. No $25/yr needed.

Only Amazon purchases are free; after 5GB of non-Amazon music (I have 10s of GBs from emusic.com, for example), you have to pay.

Buy a 99 cent album and you get 20Gb.. Problem solved! (And only for 99 cents!)

darcilicious
Cyber Librarian
Premium Member
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
·Ziply Fiber

darcilicious

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

said by djdanska:

said by darcilicious:

said by FFH5:

The Amazon cloud player and music streaming is free and it streams to my iPad just fine. No $25/yr needed.

Only Amazon purchases are free; after 5GB of non-Amazon music (I have 10s of GBs from emusic.com, for example), you have to pay.

Buy a 99 cent album and you get 20Gb.. Problem solved! (And only for 99 cents!)

It's only good until the end of the calendar year; then you've got the original problem again!

»www.amazon.com/gp/featur ··· 00667531
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
Amazon is not free once you get beyond the initial 5GB. Also you have to upload all your stuff.

I think iCloud is a winner. For $25/yr, I get unlimited music storage PLUS the "matching" capability that essentially upgrades and legitimizes all my saved MP3s, no matter where they came from (yes, Virginia, there used to be a Napster). And it's tightly integrated with iTunes and iOS. And it also handles my calendar, email, contacts, bookmarks, photos, etc. etc. etc.

And, it'll be done with the usual Apple fit and finish, which is way better than Google and especially Amazon. It will "just work".

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

1 recommendation

djdanska

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

I've been able to sync my calendar, email, contacts, photos, music etc in the cloud for ages now. Nothing new. Google calendar, contacts and email are able to sync with thunderbird, android, windows mobile 6.5, and possibly more (anything with microsoft activesync/exhange support »www.google.com/sync shows able devices) I've been uploading photos in the cloud since i got my first android phone. (Picasa anybody?) I don't need a matching service for $25. I can either upload up to 20,000 tracks to google music or use amazon's cloud service. (For .99 cents, i get 20 gb of free storage. I MUCH rather have that versus paying $25 and not having to upload everything to the cloud. Isn't comcast's normal tier 2mb/s upload? Seriously, its not going to take weeks people.) Most of that with my google account.

I was laughing at the entire apple ios presentation. Everything they announced i was all like "I've been doing that for AGES" or android, windows phone 7, or blackberry already does that. Nothing new or innovative.. Nothing revolutionary. Until now, android and wp7 was able to say "We can do X, which ios can't".. Now at least apple can tell potential buyers "coming soon we will have new features android has had since it was launched originally in 2008" (notifications..) Eh.. Fail..

edit: Neowin isn't too impressed either
»www.neowin.net/news/ios- ··· utionary
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

I am also on Google for calendar, contacts, and email, and Picasa for photos, and I paid Google for 20GB of storage to put everything up there.

I'm still very impressed with Apple's iCloud offering and its integrated approach. I am going to try it and probably switch away from Google.

I tried MobileMe but it just wasn't good enough thus I ended up with Google.

Like Apple says: it just works. If it really does, I'll move to it and away from Google.

Apple is not a specs comparison value prop. You can't just do a specs to specs comparison. They offer a warm, fuzzy, simple, it just works customer value proposition. Even though I'm a techie, and can solve the integration and hard-to-use issues, I'd rather not.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
For me everything was integrated enough. I get all my picasa photos in the gallery app, contacts are available in both the contacts webpage, gmail, google docs, etc. From the gallery, i can upload any pics and videos to numerous clouds. (Whether its dropbox, google docs, picasa, etc. All right there). For me at least, everything just works already. Im not willing to ditch an entire os to get what in the end, would be the exact same thing. (Not to mention all the apps i paid for in android, i would have to buy all over again in ios).
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

Re: Amazon cloud strg and music streaming free

Yeah I am exactly where you are right now, and I do exactly the same things. Perhaps the difference in our outlook is that I am heavily into iOS devices for me and my family, and you are Android.

Some analyst called iCloud a fiendishly brilliant scheme to funnel customers towards upgrades/migrations to iOS. Maybe that's right.

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG

Member

And the real cost is?

AT&T and other cap-and-overchargers are drooling at the thought of all the extra money they're going to make.

Tamarisk
@impulse.net

Tamarisk

Anon

Re: And the real cost is?

Exactly what I was thinking!

Scatcatpdx
Fur It Up
join:2007-06-22
Portland, OR

Scatcatpdx to ShellMMG

Member

to ShellMMG
The issue with data-caps is how long the application tail will be allowed to wag the carrier dog
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory to ShellMMG

Member

to ShellMMG
Haha! This is the issue I've been complaining about forever...
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG

Member

Re: And the real cost is?

Yup. Once bitten, twice shy. Those of us who've had to endure low caps and throttles/overages know the drill and it's not pretty. In the case of low caps, ESPECIALLY shared "buckets," it's just not worth it.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol to ShellMMG

Premium Member

to ShellMMG
said by ShellMMG:

AT&T and other cap-and-overchargers are drooling at the thought of all the extra money they're going to make.

I'm sure this will be restricted to wifi only. Isn't their video calling the same? iFacetime or whatever they call video calling.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: And the real cost is?

Jobs repeatedly said WiFi for a lot of the keynote features.
BHNtechXpert
The One & Only
Premium Member
join:2006-02-16
Saint Petersburg, FL

1 recommendation

BHNtechXpert

Premium Member

Cmon Apple did you really think we would miss this...

"which will let you store "music you’ve ripped from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes" for $24.99 per year, if it's a song already available in iTunes."

What this means is you won't actually get your copy uploaded instead they will tag your profile as having "xxx" song and then stream it from their master library. Saving them space and essentially controlling everything including the very songs you listen to. To test this what you could do is create a proper mp3 with appropriate metadata but containing nothing but white noise. What you will get streamed to you instead will be the actual title contained in the iTunes master inventory. Pretty damn sneaky Apple...

Pretty much the same thing drop box just got nailed for but in the music kind of way.
beaups
join:2003-08-11
Hilliard, OH

beaups

Member

Re: Cmon Apple did you really think we would miss this...

I'm guessing it works more like shazam and samples your music to verify you own it. Either way it's NOT sneaky...it's great. I have nearly 8TB of lossless FLAC rips from many years of work. How long would that take to upload and what would they charge me for ~3TB of storage (if I converted down to 256K)? I'll tell you: A shitload.

$25/year is a steal for that service.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

Re: Cmon Apple did you really think we would miss this...

said by beaups:

I'm guessing it works more like shazam and samples your music to verify you own it. Either way it's NOT sneaky...it's great. I have nearly 8TB of lossless FLAC rips from many years of work. How long would that take to upload and what would they charge me for ~3TB of storage (if I converted down to 256K)? I'll tell you: A shitload.

$25/year is a steal for that service.

Remember, now it's $25/year FOREVER.

Alcohol
Premium Member
join:2003-05-26
Climax, MI

Alcohol to beaups

Premium Member

to beaups
said by beaups:

I'm guessing it works more like shazam and samples your music to verify you own it. Either way it's NOT sneaky...it's great. I have nearly 8TB of lossless FLAC rips from many years of work. How long would that take to upload and what would they charge me for ~3TB of storage (if I converted down to 256K)? I'll tell you: A shitload.

$25/year is a steal for that service.

You do realize itunes won't pick up the songs unless they have it on the cloud already.
westdc
join:2009-01-25
Amissville, VA

westdc

Member

GO ahead and pay for it

I've got 25 gig'd of music stored on my 3 different hard drive's Current and backed up and it doesn't cost me anything to store it? Oh I understand now I live in a house not a cardboard box on main street with a I phone as my internet choice.

Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC

Hazy Arc

Member

Apple...Fashionably Late Again.

So now Apple has their own "cloud" storage (a few years late to the party...par for the course). But it goes without saying that Apple's iteration is better because it's "innovative".

•••••

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Cloud?

Because we use a "cloud" to represent internet on a network diagram companies now use the term "cloud" instead of the wordv "internet".
I really don't see why.

I do find it funny that Apple is way behind everyone else for remote internet storage and program running, but yet now all the media is talking about it. Google had their internet storage/browser applications years ago.
Apple = marketing company
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Cloud?

but they'll get the props for it you can bet on that one.

applefail
@rr.com

applefail

Anon

lol

Screw this crap.
SilentMan
join:2002-07-15
New York, NY

1 recommendation

SilentMan

Member

Yawn!

Good for them! I will never use such service. My data stays with me and under my control!

Netios
@cisco.com

Netios

Anon

Will I have the option

I am concerned that apple wants to store all my data calendar, mail etc on their servers. What if I do not want to use their cloud service? Will I have the option to not use it?

AG
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

Re: Will I have the option

Don't sign in to your Apple account You can turn cloud access off.

Neosum
Premium Member
join:2000-06-03
Oakland, CA

Neosum

Premium Member

Re: Will I have the option

There's an option to turn off cloud services.

EUS
Kill cancer
Premium Member
join:2002-09-10
canada

EUS

Premium Member

Is this it?

This is the big announcement everyone's been holding their collective breath for?
Wow.