“Cloud computing is finally a mature field — we know, because Apple is entering the ring,” Ryan Cole reports for The Taipan Daily.
“Cloud computing isn’t a new concept. Indeed, two of the biggest names in technology — Google and Amazon.com — have already launched some very ambitious cloud services this year,” Cole reports. “But everything is about to change, again.”
Cole reports, “That’s because the most influential technology company in the world — Apple — is entering the fight. And as history shows, when Apple enters a market, it’s a game-changer more times than not. This time doesn’t look to be any different.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “krquet” for the heads up.]
All your cloud are belong to us.
Like.
mwahaha….. Apple into Cloud Computing? Yahhh….. using their iOS user “Bot Net”! lol….. ;P Telling their users they must submit their iPhones, iPads, iPods as all good loyal iSheep should, to Apple’s full control!!!!
I’d rather be an iSheep than a Google Douche.
Well said! I baa with thee!
It’s difficult for me to figure out who’s being sarcastic and when. But I’ll bite:
You do realise that Android has a famous, early foothold with the sheep followers in “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
I mean, you know about the Nexus reference, right?
Googlyeyes doesn’t read and he isn’t smart enough to make the connection to hollywood.
Translation of GooglyEyes’ post:
Hey dopey, go buy yourself a nice Windows phone. Better yet, get a Android phone. You deserve it. Just how does it feel going through life knowing that even the kid handing you your burger at McDonald’s is smarter than you? Let me guess…………….you dropped out in the 10th grade?
STFU, moron! You’d be embarrassing yourself if you had enough sense to notice.
Apple’s cloud will be better.
Air will be fresher
Food will taste better
Your wife will be hotter
Your kids will be smarter
Yes, Apple makes EVERYTHING better!
I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall.
I really don’t know clouds at all.
That could easily be part of a song!
I think it would sound good in a Frank Sinatra song..
My ex could have done with some iCloud then!
Now if they could just fix the lag on all those pesky application crashes and freezes under iOS 4.x.
Well, if the Taipan Daily says it’s so it must be so…
Somewhere, a bridge is missing it’s trolls….
Doubt it. Apple doesn’t “get” the cloud like other companies do: Dropbox, Google, etc.
I was a fan of DropBox but it tends to change files every so often. I am not sure why. I suspect Apple “will get” the cloud right the first time. They have been thinking about it for a very very long time. I think it was eVillage they tried about a decade or so ago…it didn’t work but it was a good idea. If Apple fails it is usually because they are ahead of their time.
It was called eWorld. Apple sold it to Steve Case and it became the foundation for AOL, so actually it worked out, just not for Apple.
I don’t think that’s quite right, Mercenary… Apple’s first online system was AppleLink (for dealers), which later turned into AppleLink Personal (for customers, and which Apple and AOL developed together). THAT was what became the AOL software – AppleLink – and AOL had as much to do with it as Apple.
eWorld actually came later, IIRC… AOL was really taking off and Apple wanted a custom-branded private app to be pre-loaded on Macs, so they went back to AOL for a variation of the AOL software.
Not that any of that has anything at all to do with what Apple may- or may not be doing at this point in time.
Fictionalize history much? eWorld was Apple’s response to AOL, which failed and wasn’t sold to anybody. Moron.
I was responding to Digital Mercenary, not ecrabb.
Thought AOL was originally QuantumLink (Q-Link).
it was.
Actually, I was a big fan of eWorld, and was sad when it went away. In the early days of the Net it made life a lot easier…
I loved eWorld and was among those who sat and chatted with each other as the clock was ticking on that last day. I believe eWorld shut down at midnight, and one had the sensation of being at a cyber-Woodstock as we exchanged addresses and named AOL forums where we could go when the (e)world ended. It was eerie experiencing this.
The interesting bit, to me, from that article above is:
“Part of the difference in approach is that Amazon and Google have viewed the cloud as something — pardon the pun — more nebulous. Storage of all data has been a bigger selling point.
“Apple, by contrast, appears to be focusing on media playback — with storage of other things a bonus, but not the backbone.”
Maybe, if I may put it another way, and I could be wrong:
while others are looking at cloud future from the technical vantage (constantly improving upon data reliability, backup solutions, data compression, algorithms for network outages etc.), Apple’s approach has been about the applicability from the user’s perspective (your data stays with you, just access the same titles online from our library in the sky when you have a connection you like, oh and have you seen the improved Genius mixed with Ping?).
I signed up at cloudme.com but when I log in it says my browser is not supported – it’s Safari 5.0.5. I have to use the mobile version. Firefox and Chrome are supported.
WTF?
=:~)
Why no skepticism? Apple has dropped the ball in similar ventures, very recently (MobileMe, Ping). While I hope and feel like iCloud will be amazing, I have no evidence to support that hypothesis.
I think everyone should hold back the rave reviews and exuberance until after this service enters existence.
ahh skeptics…just love watching all those critics, naysayers, skeptics, experts, sitting on the sidelines in life, while the players are in the ring slogging through vision to completion…not easy, but challenging and exciting in my few ventures in the arena.
Please. Honest criticism is not allowed on this site. If you want to act like an adult kindly go to Appleinsider or Mac Rumors. Rose colored glasses only allowed on this site. How dare you bring up Mobile Me!
How about a massive state of the art data center that dwarfs any other by comparison.
lol dwarfs any other.
Ok you need to look a bit past just apple land here.
The NC Data Center is massive, but it just puts Apple in the big leagues, it does not ‘dwarf’ all others.
For comparison:
—————-
Lakeside Technology Center, CHICAGO, 1.1 Million SF
MICROSOFT CHICAGO DATA CENTER, Chicago 700,000 SF
MICROSOFT DATA CENTER, DUBLIN, 550,000 SF (Powers most of MS’s Cloud Computing Services)
9A and 9B. MICROSOFT QUINCY AND SAN ANTONIO DATA CENTERS, 470,000 SF EACH
i/o Data Centers Phoenix One: 538,000 SF
NEXT GENERATION DATA EUROPE, WALES 750,000 SF
This isn’t even a complete list, just a few of the super big data centers out there, although I believe Lakeside Tech is the largest of them all at 1.1 million SF.
Well let’s get it movin! Stock price is down and baby needs shoes. Should be a real kick in the pants for AAPL. As for GOOG and AMZN………………probably not. All fanboy prejudice stupid gushing aside, let’s get ready to rumble! Speaking to the couple of adults on this site not living in mom’s basement, show me the money!!
Apple’s “cloud computing” initiative will be better for ONE reason. Apple makes most of its lofty profit from selling hardware, not software or services. The software and services are more of a “value-added” benefit for its hardware customers. For example, iTunes and the iTunes Store (including App Store) are not meant to be profit centers. They make the Mac and iOS user experience uniquely better, which helps increase hardware sales.
In contrast, Amazon and Google are doing stuff “in the cloud” only to make a profit from that activity. Therefore, their services will be more annoying and invasive for the customer, because they have to make a profit from cloud computing. But Apple will just seek to “break even” from any cloud-based service; Apple’s goal will be to make the customer’s experience as satisfying as possible, with the ultimate goal being (as usual) to profit from increased hardware sales.
Once again, Apple will win by not even playing the same game as its “competition.”
Good point.
You state what even the novice AAPL user,investor or fanboy have understood forever. You state the obvious. But you state it nicely.
So what if he stated the obvious? What’s it to you? The trouble is all of Apple’s competitors can see a good thing a million miles away and it makes good sense to implement if they could but inevitably they fumble at it. Do you ever ask yourself why? Stating the obvious doesn’t mean it’s easy to execute.
I find it very amusing that everyone has such strong opinions about what Apple’s cloud computing will be, when no one at Apple has even discussed it. All we really know is that Apple is building (has built) a huge server farm in North Carolina and has purchased the “iCloud” domain name.
Everything else is pure speculation. No one even has a clue as to what fluffy, cloud-like service Apple would offer.
Maybe it’s just storage for Steve Jobs’ 1080p movie collection and all the emails from Apple users (“Hey Steve, when are you making X?” or “Why can’t my iPhone make toast?”), which he relegates to the “Junk” folder.
Actually, they have some unique patent applications that paint a picture that looks much different than what Amazon or Google are doing. This is not all just speculation.
Apple isn’t just going to walk in here and…
Of course they aren’t. Apple failed lots of times trying to get cloud computing right. Remember how much they struggled with AppleLink Personal Edition, eWorld, Dot Mac, Mobile Me and their many missteps and small successes?
Apple plenty of historical reference and just like the Newton was the catalyst for iPad, all of their not-quite-ready-for-primetime attempts at cloud computing will pay off handsomely with a rainbow that leads to a pot of gold.
I firmly believe that you learn more from mistakes and failures than you ever could from success.
That being the case, Apple should know everything there is to know about cloud computing.
I for one look forward to see if Apple can make Mac.com/MobileMe.com more useful and usable.
“Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories.”
-Ralph “Where’s Waldo” Emerson
I wonder if apple is considering an iAd supported free version of mobileme?
😉 That’s pretty cool, but I think Apple believes no one ever clicks on ads. I’m not sure how well iAd is actually doing
Cant wait to see what this is.
“Apple — is entering the fight”
I just thought of something… remember a few weeks back when we had the story about SJ yelling at the MobileMe team? What if iCloud (*shudder) is not just iTunes in the cloud, but iWork as well? iWork has had the mobile me buttons for a couple years now.. so obviously exporting to the Cloud already exists. All we need now is editing in the cloud. If you could build a competitor to Google Docs + have iTunes Streaming… that could be a pretty sweet announcement
I love how they forget Microsoft’s cloud offerings in this article. Hilarious!! And they’ve only spent how much money promoting their cloud services?!
Which part?
MS is offering cloud computing to consumers and businesses with office 360 and exhange.
They also have Azure which provides application hosting for developers.
like when they got into social networking with Ping ? What a gamechanger ! Screw the cloud.
In Russia government break your English!