Keep your files on your iTablet, lease/run Apple programs via the internet.
It's the only way to get a slimmer and more powerful computing, see a four core MacBook Pro laying around anywhere?
Say good bye to the Superdrive, won't need it to watch DVD's, you can stream those. No need to burn because you can use a SD card or a USB which will be phased out next, right after Firewire in favor of wireless large transfers.
Say good bye to the remove able battery... oh yea... your battery goes, you get a new iTablet Mac.
hmmm not sure I like that one.
Say good bye to RAM, hard drives and SSD, a tiny 2GB SDCX card will be all you need and it will be soldered on the motherboard along with everything else and pressed together into a thin plastic shell that's never meant to be opened again. Real thin, like a credit card computer almost, like if you pressed a little to hard it would warp time machine or something.
Say goodbye to the keyboard, you want one? Buy one and hook it up via wireless.
And it will be glossy screen, so it doubles as a signal mirror in case you get lost at sea.
And yes, it will be chained to some god awfully expensive monthly contract from AT&T...which you have to decide if you want it when you buy the iTablet and can't add it on later if you strike it rich in the lottery one day. :P
Oh yea, if you got this far, do you or anyone have the address of the new data center Apple is building?
I'll take pictures on my hurricane avoidance migration/vacation if it hits near me.
Google has google apps. One of these cloud applications is a mail server (Gmail). When will Apple run their own mail server? Not all of us want to use Exchange at work..............
Speculation, however well-informed, that Apple wants to replicate Google's "Cloud" operation, or even Microsoft's, is likely to be misplaced.
Remember that such a data centre will take as much as two years to build out. At the iTunes Store's current growth rate, five times the size is entirely plausible. Even more so when you think that Apple is adding new services all the time, including HD video.
Personally, I think that Apple will be planning to remove the technology burden from TV stations and other media content providers, not only in the USA but also worldwide, and host it all via the iTunes Store.
Think about all the effort all these TV stations and content providers must put into creating and paying for an online delivery system, delivering it, protecting it, collecting users, collecting payments and keeping it all up to date, when really they want to concentrate on providing the TV, movie and other media content. Apple's iTunes Store can easily deliver all of this to a huge base of existing users.
Why should Apple want to do this? Probably not for the reason that the iTunes sales justify the cost of the Data Centre, although in Google's case the advertising revenue alone can justify the cost of the Data Centre, and not even because iTunes represents something people actually WANT, whereas Google ads are NOT. If Apple want to create such a huge new Data Centre, it is because it will help them sell Apple products, some of which exist right now and some of which may be introduced during the next two years.
Access to a Cloud that delivers a few Office-style documents, even e-mail, does not sound like a great deal for Apple. Access to the entire television or movie network via an Apple-manufactured device is not the Cloud, it is THE SKY!
+1
Good post
So maybe apple can replicate netflix plus add a few dozen extra features that is not offered by netflix. W/O having to buy netflix
Apple will need 5 or 6 data centers lie this one
and i think gaming will loom large as well as hulu style TV stuff.
Apple is lining up all its ducks and is getting ready to kill Netflix in one fell swoop. Their opening salvo would be a tender offer to Netflix, which would not be a generous offer because Apple will claim that the mail delivery side of the business is worthless, or soon will be. It will be hard for Netflix to turn down though because implicit in the offer is the threat of all out warfare should they turn it down. And with $31 billion in Apple's back pocket, this is not an empty threat.
Yeah, it's all pure wild speculation. Netflix is probably irrelevant to Apple as Jobs is in all likelihood looking ahead about one or two generations of technology beyond Netflix. But it's a nice story.
Netflix is well ahead of Apple in digital delivery. They are striking deals to put their software into TV sets. And Apple will not dare buy Netflix since they are aligned with Microsoft and M$ controls Active Sync. Netflix's digital delivery is Silverlight based
While not disagreeing with your comments totally, I would point out Apple had a lot to learn about the phone industry too .... oh wait a minute, didn't someone already say that a while back?
A bit different in that .Mac was around for a long while before iPhone. Apple should look to Google for inspiration, to say the least.
It's indispensible for me. I threw my entire Documents folder onto my iDisk, then created a link to my iDisk on the Dock, sidebar, etc. I work off my iDisk now, and it's updated automatically. Love it.
That is a grand idea. Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ireland
Apple have a lot to learn when it comes to cloud computing. They should be using this type of thing to sell hardware, not charging a lot like they do now. And they need to put more work into it also. Where's this iTunes Reply thing? We're waiting! I'm tired of not having my laptop's iTunes in sync with my iMac's iTunes, podcasts, music etc. etc. We need this, and fast.
And iTunes TV also, come on.
They would sell more HW if they offered that, but it's not that simple. As we saw last year with the MobileMe launch and the hordes of .Mac users trying out MobileMe, Apple pushing MobileMe with every new iPhone 3G and people just wanting to test it out, it obvious that didn't have the infrastructure to handle that load. The system was so slow for 4 days that it was useless.
To give every purchaser of Apple HW a MobileMe account likely isn't viable. For all we know, this data center is wing built so Apple can offer free cloud services, but if they are, hopefully they allow for a more structured and controlled release to prevent from overloading again.
As for not having hundreds and hundreds of GB in sync over a WAN cloud is asking too much, for several reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by al_bundy
Netflix is well ahead of Apple in digital delivery. They are striking deals to put their software into TV sets. And Apple will not dare buy Netflix since they are aligned with Microsoft and M$ controls Active Sync. Netflix's digital delivery is Silverlight based
The AppleTV may not be a big seller, nut Apple can't let go of the home entertainment system. Whether thy get deals for a device that connects to TVs, has AppleTV software inside a TV or another media appliance, or another stand alone appliance, they can't give up on that area of the home. Now that the path has cleared up a bit Apple should have a device out soon. I have hopes for the September event.
This is Apple we are talking about here ... I would not assume 'the usual suspects' in this project. Apple probably have yet another paradigm shift up their sleeves. At first Ballmer will laugh, ridicule and state it will fail. Then in a few years, like everyone else, will be copying the concept as fast as he can.
I totally agree. This could be the new Netflix, the new hulu, the revampled MobileMe, and the new collaborative iWork hub, PLUS a few other things that aren't on the radar yet. Once we see it though, we'll say "How did we live without this??"
No doubt it will ramp up quickly to maintain its edge of surprise, so there will be some rough patches and hiccoughs, but then we'll love it.
Netflix is well ahead of Apple in digital delivery. They are striking deals to put their software into TV sets. And Apple will not dare buy Netflix since they are aligned with Microsoft and M$ controls Active Sync. Netflix's digital delivery is Silverlight based
yes but if Apple were to buy Netflix who is to say that it would continue to use Silverlight
also, on this whole data center issue, who is to say that it's just for one thing. perhaps they are planning to build a couple more of these centers and spread out their mobileme, itunes, iwork.com etc to help with traffic flow. and if cloud computing continues to grow, Apple may move into that realm as well.
What this sub genus forgot to mention is that this cloud will be made up entirely of refurbished Mac Minis. That's why they are rarely offered for sale.
And it's all going to be backed up using Time Machine!
So maybe apple can replicate netflix plus add a few dozen extra features that is not offered by netflix. W/O having to buy netflix
Apple will need 5 or 6 data centers lie this one
and i think gaming will loom large as well as hulu style TV stuff.
Maybe apple will but EA
9
Thanks, BruceP, I forgot about games!
My gaming needs are (almost) satisfied by Solitaire and SNOOD, but many people are buying and selling games on the iTunes App Store. Google Games or Microsoft's X-Box? not so many.
Only Apple knows how successful this business might be, and how it could be linked in to other media, services or social connections on the iTunes software side. Apple probably already knows how much these links can extend sales of Mac computers, iPods, iPhones and other Apple products that are not even on sale yet.
Games, TV and movies can only help those Apple products seem even more attractive.
Access to the entire television or movie network via an Apple-manufactured device is not the Cloud, it is THE SKY!
You said the magic words. This almost certainly fits into an existing Apple platform strategy; Apple clearly has not finished delivering on its vision for mobile computing, content, and application delivery.
While this could be for cloud computing in the sense of distributed applications, I think it more likely is related to Apple's existing and up-coming mobile offerings, e.g. iTunes, appStore, etc. The rumored tablet device comes to mind as well as a platform that will need major content offerings if it is to be successful.
Google has google apps. One of these cloud applications is a mail server (Gmail). When will Apple run their own mail server? Not all of us want to use Exchange at work..............
huh? .mac, now mobileme has been around for - what? - ten years?
and if you need to run your own server at work, osx server?
I can see it's benefits, but with an ADSL upload speed of about 256Kb, it's going to be a while before it's any use to me!
Ah, but your looking at it through the perspective of traditional computing.
In a 100% cloud environment everything is in the cloud. Your Applications, your data, everything. At that point, you are just getting basically a remote desktop session so your ADSL line is overkill. Latency becomes more an issue then raw bandwidth - which ADSL is actually very good for.
While I'm in the "you'll pry my data from my cold dead hands" camp, that's mainly because I'm a tech geek. I'm also in the vast minority. Most people couldn't care less - just look at the success of Gmail and Google Docs.
So, depending on where you fall, your ADSL line could be overkill...
The problem is that it's not *immediately* apparent that you can do this. And you really can't replace the Documents folder on OS X because it's "required by OS X."
So i simply created a new Documents folder, called "Documents (use)" on my iDisk and then made links to it, which I placed on the Dock and in the sidebar, as well as my home folder. That's all it takes, but it does require a bit of work. I don't think my iDisk liked it very much when I tried to place my standard Documents folder onto it, I can't qute remember anyway. In any case, the methos I used was really the only workable one. It's been working very well. No syncing issues, everything is where it should be, etc.
The problem is that it's not *immediately* apparent that you can do this. And you really can't replace the Documents folder on OS X because it's "required by OS X."
So i simply created a new Documents folder, called "Documents (use)" on my iDisk and then made links to it, which I placed on the Dock and in the sidebar, as well as my home folder. That's all it takes, but it does require a bit of work. I don't think my iDisk liked it very much when I tried to place my standard Documents folder onto it, I can't qute remember anyway. In any case, the methos I used was really the only workable one. It's been working very well. No syncing issues, everything is where it should be, etc.
If your internet goes out, do you lose access to those files?
If your internet goes out, do you lose access to those files?
I don't know. Never happened. Good question.
I keep a local backup of those files, but I only back them up once every two weeks or so, just in case. Besides, the iDisk folder sitting on my desktop appears to be a local copy.
Mind you, I have access to MobileMe (and therefore my iDisk) from any web browser anywhere in the world. I can access them from my iPhone as well, over 3G.
This is Apple we are talking about here ... I would not assume 'the usual suspects' in this project. Apple probably have yet another paradigm shift up their sleeves. At first Ballmer will laugh, ridicule and state it will fail. Then in a few years, like everyone else, will be copying the concept as fast as he can.
Jean-Louis Gassée has recently written, http://www.9to5mac.com/apple_changes_course, that Apple has been developing an infrastructure to be a service provider for new revenue.
Comments
While Miller's cloud computing
Keep your files on your iTablet, lease/run Apple programs via the internet.
It's the only way to get a slimmer and more powerful computing, see a four core MacBook Pro laying around anywhere?
Say good bye to the Superdrive, won't need it to watch DVD's, you can stream those. No need to burn because you can use a SD card or a USB which will be phased out next, right after Firewire in favor of wireless large transfers.
Say good bye to the remove able battery... oh yea... your battery goes, you get a new iTablet Mac.
hmmm not sure I like that one.
Say good bye to RAM, hard drives and SSD, a tiny 2GB SDCX card will be all you need and it will be soldered on the motherboard along with everything else and pressed together into a thin plastic shell that's never meant to be opened again. Real thin, like a credit card computer almost, like if you pressed a little to hard it would warp time machine or something.
Say goodbye to the keyboard, you want one? Buy one and hook it up via wireless.
And it will be glossy screen, so it doubles as a signal mirror in case you get lost at sea.
And yes, it will be chained to some god awfully expensive monthly contract from AT&T...which you have to decide if you want it when you buy the iTablet and can't add it on later if you strike it rich in the lottery one day. :P
Oh yea, if you got this far, do you or anyone have the address of the new data center Apple is building?
I'll take pictures on my hurricane avoidance migration/vacation if it hits near me.
did anyone say glossy ???
Speculation, however well-informed, that Apple wants to replicate Google's "Cloud" operation, or even Microsoft's, is likely to be misplaced.
Remember that such a data centre will take as much as two years to build out. At the iTunes Store's current growth rate, five times the size is entirely plausible. Even more so when you think that Apple is adding new services all the time, including HD video.
Personally, I think that Apple will be planning to remove the technology burden from TV stations and other media content providers, not only in the USA but also worldwide, and host it all via the iTunes Store.
Think about all the effort all these TV stations and content providers must put into creating and paying for an online delivery system, delivering it, protecting it, collecting users, collecting payments and keeping it all up to date, when really they want to concentrate on providing the TV, movie and other media content. Apple's iTunes Store can easily deliver all of this to a huge base of existing users.
Why should Apple want to do this? Probably not for the reason that the iTunes sales justify the cost of the Data Centre, although in Google's case the advertising revenue alone can justify the cost of the Data Centre, and not even because iTunes represents something people actually WANT, whereas Google ads are NOT. If Apple want to create such a huge new Data Centre, it is because it will help them sell Apple products, some of which exist right now and some of which may be introduced during the next two years.
Access to a Cloud that delivers a few Office-style documents, even e-mail, does not sound like a great deal for Apple. Access to the entire television or movie network via an Apple-manufactured device is not the Cloud, it is THE SKY!
+1
Good post
So maybe apple can replicate netflix plus add a few dozen extra features that is not offered by netflix. W/O having to buy netflix
Apple will need 5 or 6 data centers lie this one
and i think gaming will loom large as well as hulu style TV stuff.
Maybe apple will but EA
9
Apple is lining up all its ducks and is getting ready to kill Netflix in one fell swoop. Their opening salvo would be a tender offer to Netflix, which would not be a generous offer because Apple will claim that the mail delivery side of the business is worthless, or soon will be. It will be hard for Netflix to turn down though because implicit in the offer is the threat of all out warfare should they turn it down. And with $31 billion in Apple's back pocket, this is not an empty threat.
Yeah, it's all pure wild speculation. Netflix is probably irrelevant to Apple as Jobs is in all likelihood looking ahead about one or two generations of technology beyond Netflix. But it's a nice story.
Netflix is well ahead of Apple in digital delivery. They are striking deals to put their software into TV sets. And Apple will not dare buy Netflix since they are aligned with Microsoft and M$ controls Active Sync. Netflix's digital delivery is Silverlight based
While not disagreeing with your comments totally, I would point out Apple had a lot to learn about the phone industry too .... oh wait a minute, didn't someone already say that a while back?
A bit different in that .Mac was around for a long while before iPhone. Apple should look to Google for inspiration, to say the least.
It's indispensible for me. I threw my entire Documents folder onto my iDisk, then created a link to my iDisk on the Dock, sidebar, etc. I work off my iDisk now, and it's updated automatically. Love it.
That is a grand idea. Thanks!
Apple have a lot to learn when it comes to cloud computing. They should be using this type of thing to sell hardware, not charging a lot like they do now. And they need to put more work into it also. Where's this iTunes Reply thing? We're waiting! I'm tired of not having my laptop's iTunes in sync with my iMac's iTunes, podcasts, music etc. etc. We need this, and fast.
And iTunes TV also, come on.
They would sell more HW if they offered that, but it's not that simple. As we saw last year with the MobileMe launch and the hordes of .Mac users trying out MobileMe, Apple pushing MobileMe with every new iPhone 3G and people just wanting to test it out, it obvious that didn't have the infrastructure to handle that load. The system was so slow for 4 days that it was useless.
To give every purchaser of Apple HW a MobileMe account likely isn't viable. For all we know, this data center is wing built so Apple can offer free cloud services, but if they are, hopefully they allow for a more structured and controlled release to prevent from overloading again.
As for not having hundreds and hundreds of GB in sync over a WAN cloud is asking too much, for several reasons.
Netflix is well ahead of Apple in digital delivery. They are striking deals to put their software into TV sets. And Apple will not dare buy Netflix since they are aligned with Microsoft and M$ controls Active Sync. Netflix's digital delivery is Silverlight based
The AppleTV may not be a big seller, nut Apple can't let go of the home entertainment system. Whether thy get deals for a device that connects to TVs, has AppleTV software inside a TV or another media appliance, or another stand alone appliance, they can't give up on that area of the home. Now that the path has cleared up a bit Apple should have a device out soon. I have hopes for the September event.
This is Apple we are talking about here ... I would not assume 'the usual suspects' in this project. Apple probably have yet another paradigm shift up their sleeves. At first Ballmer will laugh, ridicule and state it will fail. Then in a few years, like everyone else, will be copying the concept as fast as he can.
I totally agree. This could be the new Netflix, the new hulu, the revampled MobileMe, and the new collaborative iWork hub, PLUS a few other things that aren't on the radar yet. Once we see it though, we'll say "How did we live without this??"
No doubt it will ramp up quickly to maintain its edge of surprise, so there will be some rough patches and hiccoughs, but then we'll love it.
Hopefully . . .
When will Apple run their own mail server?
MobileMe
Netflix is well ahead of Apple in digital delivery. They are striking deals to put their software into TV sets. And Apple will not dare buy Netflix since they are aligned with Microsoft and M$ controls Active Sync. Netflix's digital delivery is Silverlight based
yes but if Apple were to buy Netflix who is to say that it would continue to use Silverlight
also, on this whole data center issue, who is to say that it's just for one thing. perhaps they are planning to build a couple more of these centers and spread out their mobileme, itunes, iwork.com etc to help with traffic flow. and if cloud computing continues to grow, Apple may move into that realm as well.
In honor of Angry Mac Bastards.
What this sub genus forgot to mention is that this cloud will be made up entirely of refurbished Mac Minis. That's why they are rarely offered for sale.
And it's all going to be backed up using Time Machine!
+1
Good post
So maybe apple can replicate netflix plus add a few dozen extra features that is not offered by netflix. W/O having to buy netflix
Apple will need 5 or 6 data centers lie this one
and i think gaming will loom large as well as hulu style TV stuff.
Maybe apple will but EA
9
Thanks, BruceP, I forgot about games!
My gaming needs are (almost) satisfied by Solitaire and SNOOD, but many people are buying and selling games on the iTunes App Store. Google Games or Microsoft's X-Box? not so many.
Only Apple knows how successful this business might be, and how it could be linked in to other media, services or social connections on the iTunes software side. Apple probably already knows how much these links can extend sales of Mac computers, iPods, iPhones and other Apple products that are not even on sale yet.
Games, TV and movies can only help those Apple products seem even more attractive.
Access to the entire television or movie network via an Apple-manufactured device is not the Cloud, it is THE SKY!
You said the magic words. This almost certainly fits into an existing Apple platform strategy; Apple clearly has not finished delivering on its vision for mobile computing, content, and application delivery.
While this could be for cloud computing in the sense of distributed applications, I think it more likely is related to Apple's existing and up-coming mobile offerings, e.g. iTunes, appStore, etc. The rumored tablet device comes to mind as well as a platform that will need major content offerings if it is to be successful.
Google has google apps. One of these cloud applications is a mail server (Gmail). When will Apple run their own mail server? Not all of us want to use Exchange at work..............
huh? .mac, now mobileme has been around for - what? - ten years?
and if you need to run your own server at work, osx server?
I can see it's benefits, but with an ADSL upload speed of about 256Kb, it's going to be a while before it's any use to me!
Ah, but your looking at it through the perspective of traditional computing.
In a 100% cloud environment everything is in the cloud. Your Applications, your data, everything. At that point, you are just getting basically a remote desktop session so your ADSL line is overkill. Latency becomes more an issue then raw bandwidth - which ADSL is actually very good for.
While I'm in the "you'll pry my data from my cold dead hands" camp, that's mainly because I'm a tech geek. I'm also in the vast minority. Most people couldn't care less - just look at the success of Gmail and Google Docs.
So, depending on where you fall, your ADSL line could be overkill...
Too late, though.
Hmm, then that little thing known as the Tennessee Valley Authority is probably irrelevant to Apples choice?
That is a grand idea. Thanks!
The problem is that it's not *immediately* apparent that you can do this. And you really can't replace the Documents folder on OS X because it's "required by OS X."
So i simply created a new Documents folder, called "Documents (use)" on my iDisk and then made links to it, which I placed on the Dock and in the sidebar, as well as my home folder. That's all it takes, but it does require a bit of work. I don't think my iDisk liked it very much when I tried to place my standard Documents folder onto it, I can't qute remember anyway. In any case, the methos I used was really the only workable one. It's been working very well. No syncing issues, everything is where it should be, etc.
The problem is that it's not *immediately* apparent that you can do this. And you really can't replace the Documents folder on OS X because it's "required by OS X."
So i simply created a new Documents folder, called "Documents (use)" on my iDisk and then made links to it, which I placed on the Dock and in the sidebar, as well as my home folder. That's all it takes, but it does require a bit of work. I don't think my iDisk liked it very much when I tried to place my standard Documents folder onto it, I can't qute remember anyway. In any case, the methos I used was really the only workable one. It's been working very well. No syncing issues, everything is where it should be, etc.
If your internet goes out, do you lose access to those files?
If your internet goes out, do you lose access to those files?
If you dont have Internet you can't access the cloud, but your iDisk can store and sync local copy on your PC.
If your internet goes out, do you lose access to those files?
I don't know. Never happened. Good question.
I keep a local backup of those files, but I only back them up once every two weeks or so, just in case. Besides, the iDisk folder sitting on my desktop appears to be a local copy.
Mind you, I have access to MobileMe (and therefore my iDisk) from any web browser anywhere in the world. I can access them from my iPhone as well, over 3G.
This is Apple we are talking about here ... I would not assume 'the usual suspects' in this project. Apple probably have yet another paradigm shift up their sleeves. At first Ballmer will laugh, ridicule and state it will fail. Then in a few years, like everyone else, will be copying the concept as fast as he can.
Jean-Louis Gassée has recently written, http://www.9to5mac.com/apple_changes_course, that Apple has been developing an infrastructure to be a service provider for new revenue.