iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows • Hacker News Board

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#81

Post by jamesaguilar » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:09 PM UTC

spenrose wrote: post #5

programminggeek wrote: post #3

iCloud is a great idea, so is Google Apps, so is Office 365. None are designed to "kill Windows". iCloud's real purpose is to sell more Apple hardware, not kill Windows. Hurting Windows sales would simply be a side effect. It's a smart move to put iPads and iPhones on equal footing as the Mac in that regard. If your docs, pictures, apps, and music are all on iCloud, your computers become disposable digital devices. W…

Upvoted b/c I think your rejection of Cringely is right, but the reason is different. Jobs/Apple are not in this for the money. They simply believe that iOS + cloud is a better way to compute.

I think they believe it is best for consumers. But I also think that they understand that what is best for consumers is also best for their bottom line. It's naive to believe that the impact on the bottom line did not factor in.

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#82

Post by CJefferson » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:22 PM UTC

Interestingly, for me the iCloud is the last straw to make me leave Mac.

I recently bought an Android phone, and I've found that Apple really hates co-operating with anything which isn't another Apple product. I could get a new iPhone, but I don't want to tie myself so I forever after have to buy mini macs, macbooks, iphones and ipads if I want to be able to get at my existing data.

Google is much better in this respect, I can get to my google data equally well from all phones and all OSes.

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#83

Post by Steko » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:38 PM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #47

blhack wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steam has nothing to do with running games on a mac, it's just a storefront for downloading them.

Meltdown is pointing out the fact that there are many, many good games available for the mac. To run good games on the mac, one simply has to install them, with steam being one of the best ways. It was a stupid question. Anyway, a more technically accurate answer would've been "cider," but I am loathe to promote such an unsatisfactory compromise ;)

It's an even dumber question because we're talking about the cloud. Sooner then you think we won't even have to install the games or even have them ported to your platform. And once LTE pings are more consistently <50 (40-100 today) even your tablet/phone will be able to offer basically any game.

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#84

Post by squidsoup » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:39 PM UTC

mtw wrote: post #16

how are you going to run a good game on Mac?

Blizzard and Valve have both successfully integrated OSX builds into their pipelines. That's two developers of AAA titles at least, and there's plenty of great indie stuff available like Minecraft.

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#85

Post by pyre » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:44 PM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #40

blhack wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just like when apple invented rsync. Or like when the invented multi-tasking on telephones. Or when they invented the touchscreen telephone. Or when they invented the dock. Or when they invented all of the things that they tout as innovations, but are really just shinier versions of things that already exist. I'm not saying any of this is bad; time machine is a lot easier to use for a non-techie than rsync is, j…

I think you're broadly right, but you're missing the key point: apple are adding a lot more than a lowercase i to FOSS innovations: they're adding usable interfaces, polish, and the shiny lowercase i. Time Machine is a lot more than branded rsync. It's usable branded rsync. And the usability is what makes it a "game-changer" in the consumer market where rsync and its algorithmic innovation isn't. In many ways, it's t…

Using the idea is one thing, but taking credit for it is another. I think that's where people get hung up. Especially for non-techies that have never heard of (e.g.) rsync, Apple 'invented' versioned backups. This pisses people off that know about rsync because it's giving Apple more credit than they deserve. Apple didn't draw the idea out of thin air and develop it from scratch. They took an existing thing and made it better.

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#86

Post by pyre » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:52 PM UTC

super_mario wrote: post #54

Seriously, UNIX guys have had this for decades. Ever heard of keeping your user directory and profile on the network server. So when you walk around the office and log into different machines your HOME "travels" with you. The network server now just lives on a server outside your organization/home what ever. The network speed now becomes the biggest limitation, and there are valid concerns with security as well.

Windows also has 'Roaming Profiles' as students at most Universities can attest to (at least at the one I went to).

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#87

Post by willheim » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 9:57 PM UTC

Erm... no. Apple announcing iCloud is kinda like Palm announcing WebOS a couple of years ago, streaming music from LastFM (though iCloud doesn't stream), getting your pics up and down from Flickr, and working on GDocs/Gmail/GCal/Office365.

Windows is an OS. iOS is an OS. Mac OSX is an OS. The iCloud service is designed to allow you to shuffle from one to the other seamlessly but not to replace those machines altogether. Kinda like using dropbox.

Now, is the OS becoming less important in comparison to the services available? Absolutely. Not for everyone but for the average user it certainly is. Will iCloud suceed? Surely it will, but only for those who wish to be tied into Apple products (unless I am mistaken and you will be able to share iCloud uploads with Android or WP devices).

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#88

Post by lukeschlather » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 10:24 PM UTC

>Here is the money line from Jobs yesterday: “We’re going to demote the PC and the Mac to just be a device – just like an iPad, an iPhone or an iPod Touch. We’re going to move the hub of your digital life to the cloud.”

Interesting that devices are only provided by Microsoft and Apple. Somehow I don't see that as a very diffuse cloud. (And certainly not one that will kill Microsoft devices.)

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#89

Post by flatulent1 » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 10:37 PM UTC

soofaloofa wrote: post #53

programminggeek wrote: post #3

iCloud is a great idea, so is Google Apps, so is Office 365. None are designed to "kill Windows". iCloud's real purpose is to sell more Apple hardware, not kill Windows. Hurting Windows sales would simply be a side effect. It's a smart move to put iPads and iPhones on equal footing as the Mac in that regard. If your docs, pictures, apps, and music are all on iCloud, your computers become disposable digital devices. W…

Agreed. Lock-in is the real win for Apple here.

I think people are missing the point. Apple is actually moving in the direction of less lock-in as far as the consumer goes. They've basically said that in the latest generation many people won't need to buy any one device to use as a hub or to sync, and no additional device is needed to establish service. They seem to have gone as far as content providers will allow in getting away from DRM, and they support syncing music and pictures across quite a few devices, even PCs. Their being able to negotiate a deal where users can Music-Match (replace their own music rips with 256k DRM-free AAC copies that can sync to many devices) is extraordinary. It's a very smart move. It ensures excellent playback quality, and it likely will get some additional people buying from them as music customer.

Being able to view photos taken with an iPhone or iPad streamed through Apple TV is a nice added feature for those not set up to do it through a desktop or laptop.

In an environment designed for easy transmission and sharing of data lock-in just doesn't seem to apply. It's nothing like having data tied up in a proprietary format that only expensive software can read. The only lock-in I see is things being addictively simple.

Re: iCloud’s Real Purpose is to Kill Windows

#90

Post by num1 » Tue, Jun 07, 2011, 10:41 PM UTC

flatulent1 wrote: post #89

soofaloofa wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Lock-in is the real win for Apple here.

I think people are missing the point. Apple is actually moving in the direction of less lock-in as far as the consumer goes. They've basically said that in the latest generation many people won't need to buy any one device to use as a hub or to sync, and no additional device is needed to establish service. They seem to have gone as far as content providers will allow in getting away from DRM, and they support syncing…

> Apple is actually moving in the direction of less lock-in as far as the consumer goes.

Do you expect that any non-Apple device will be able to use iCloud? Vendor Lock-in is what's important here, and it's definitely been made stronger by this move. Once all your data is in the cloud, do you want to go through all the effort of moving it to a different cloud (if you even can!) or do you want to cough up a few extra $100 to buy from Apple and make things easy.