I hope there is a free trial period. It takes four hours for a hi def movie to buffer on the Apple TV now with Fios and Time Capsule. If I have to wait one hour for a song to play...
What? When I rent a movie I can begin watching instantly. I believe you have other technical issues you need to resolve (EDIT - or are you talking about wifi streaming at home?)
Quote:
Hate to sound like an old timer, but I'll stick with a MacBook Pro and an iPod classic. iOS is not baked yet.
Nothing wrong with MBP and iPod Classic but IOS is pretty baked. Still developing but baked. I heard someone else say that the other day. An old lady who's son had told her IOS was not ready for 'prime time'. I had a sneaking suspicion and when I asked, sure enough - her son worked in IT
With the "Decommisioning" of unlimited Data plans, it would seem that anything that is Cloud based would be running fast into a Brick Wall.
What say you all?
I agree. I have FIOS now with no cap but it could be a matter of time. I left comcast due to their monthly 250gb cap. The lady told me when I called to cancel that most people don't go over that. Well, i'm not most people lady.
And with more and more online streaming more people will be hitting that.
I pay £10 a month to Spotify. For that, I get unlimited streaming of any music I want, regardless of whether it's on my computer or whether I've bought it or accessed it before. I can access it from a PC/Mac, from an iPhone or from an Android, Symbian or other smartphone. I don't have to do any uploading and I get everything in nice 320kbps Vorbis quality. I can even download unlimited tracks to my iPhone's local memory and play them back when I have no signal.
Spotify is very nice and I'm very happy to pay my $10, but it isn't true to say that you can have any music you want. You can only have what they have licensed. Try listening to Adele's 21 on spotify.
I *hate* these stories. Apple *could* offer iTunes cloud for free. Apple *could* charge $1 per byte. Apple *could* launch a rocket to Mars.
Any story with the word "could" in it is pure puffery. (I remember reading a story in USA Today that said Apple "could" be in financial trouble if Android tablets outsell iPads! WTF)
Came here to say exactly this. I really look forward to my Mac becoming my server while my iPad and iPhone are the clients. Should be a lot of fun and really useful!
Me too.
I really think the idea of a personal cloud has more possibilities than the single 3rd party cloud.
But it should be configurable in some declarative way, so you can define what goes where, with Apple or any other 3rd party slotting in where you need it for a price.
But, really, streaming everything sounds to me like brawn over brain. I think our personal cloud should try for a 90/10 rule where 90% has been side-loaded via our home LANs through Smart Rules and then 10% is a top-up as needed and if that content is already on a server somewhere then that's an optimisation too.
Yeah why can't we have unlimited access to the music we already purchased?
I?m inclined to thin that is the deal Apple struck with the labels. Your iTunes Store music purchase gets you the downloaded file and access to the file from their master server.
I don?t think Apple cares about the cost of the data at this point if it solidifies their ecosystem and creates even more HW spending to support it. I would not be surprised if they did lower the bit rate of music, not because of data costs but because of limitations of bandwidth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PXT
Sad the way everyone says "like Dropbox" and not "like iDisk".
The great guys at Dropbox have a made a business out of iDisk not being very good.
People say that those that post here are ?Apple apologistis? but I don?t recall ever reading comments about iDisk being good. I?ve found it useful at times, but by that same token I?ve also found mono useful for getting me out of school for a month.
Sad the way everyone says "like Dropbox" and not "like iDisk".
The great guys at Dropbox have a made a business out of iDisk not being very good.
I know Dropbox has greater "mind share" especially in the Mac community, but I use both DBox and SugarSync and prefer SugarSync.
1. Cheaper for mass backup/sync
2. You don't keep stuff in your "Dropbox" in SugarSync - you keep it where you usually keep it - and Sugarsync backs it up from there.
3. Access to any backed up file on any web-connected computer - access, edit, save and resync.
Lots of other good features - automatically moves all your phone-taken pictures to your primary computer (Mac or PC) - AND gives you access to ALL your synced photos on your phone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.). So also a good solution for a mixed OS environment. Supposedly allows you to play any of your backed up music anywhere as well - but haven't tried this yet.
I know Dropbox has greater "mind share" especially in the Mac community, but I use both DBox and SugarSync and prefer SugarSync.
1. Cheaper for mass backup/sync
2. You don't keep stuff in your "Dropbox" in SugarSync - you keep it where you usually keep it - and Sugarsync backs it up from there.
3. Access to any backed up file on any web-connected computer - access, edit, save and resync.
Lots of other good features - automatically moves all your phone-taken pictures to your primary computer (Mac or PC) - AND gives you access to ALL your synced photos on your phone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.). So also a good solution for a mixed OS environment. Supposedly allows you to play any of your backed up music anywhere as well - but haven't tried this yet.
SugarSync has some nice features but I think that it?s less popular because they require a CC/PayPal for just doing the 30-day trial and after that you?re minimum cost is $5/month or $50/year.
SugarSync has some nice features but I think that it’s less popular because they require a CC/PayPal for just doing the 30-day trial and after that you’re minimum cost is $5/month or $50/year.
Not so. There's a more generous free plan than DropBox's as well. 5GB instead of 2GB.
From the site:
"5 GB Free Plan - Not a trial but a free account with no credit cards and no monthly payment. Sign up"
Note: for those who care - and to be balanced - I believe DropBox uses 256 bit AES encyprtion and S.Sync uses 128 bit.
Not so. There's a more generous free plan than DropBox's as well. 5GB instead of 2GB.
From the site:
"5 GB Free Plan - Not a trial but a free account with no credit cards and no monthly payment. Sign up"
Note: for those who care - and to be balanced - I believe DropBox uses 256 bit AES encyprtion and S.Sync uses 128 bit.
Thanks. I never bothered with SS because their paid service was overshadowing their free service too much.
I know people seem to think this new data center is basically music streaming, but I?m expecting something a completely redone MobileMe that will finally make iDisk usable again.
I am not gonna pay to strea music I already own. If apple charges for storage itself, fine but if I can only store songs to stream I won't use it and I doubt many people will either.
Apple currently has "home sharing" between devices that use the same Apple ID on a local network. All they need is to change that LAN sharing to WAN sharing, and keep the Apple ID requirement. Home Sharing becomes Remote Sharing.
This functionality is built into Windows 7 but it has never been a killer feature because most people either don't know it exists, don't know how to set it up, or don't want to leave their PC on.
If Apple are going to go with streaming from home they need to find a way to make it simple to set up and run.
I think they should release a NAS box (maybe "iHome" or "iHub") that acts as a networked time machine and iTunes server.
...I think they should release a NAS box (maybe "iHome" or "iHub") that acts as a networked time machine and iTunes server.
I can use my OLD Apple TV as somewhat of an iTunes server. For some reason Apple won't update it to stream to the new apple tv or my iPhone, even though it can stream to Airport Express.
I know people seem to think this new data center is basically music streaming, but I?m expecting something a completely redone MobileMe that will finally make iDisk usable again.
I think you're spot on with this. Music streaming is only going to be one tiny feature of the revamped MobileMe.
I also think the article is correct in that MobileMe will continue to be a service you pay for.
Apple might offer a very cut-down (i.e. 1GB limit) free account, but I think it's more likely they will have a 1 or 2 month free trial of the full service.
I think you're spot on with this. Music streaming is only going to be one tiny feature of the revamped MobileMe.
I also think the article is correct in that MobileMe will continue to be a service you pay for.
Apple might offer a very cut-down (i.e. 1GB limit) free account, but I think it's more likely they will have a 1 or 2 month free trial of the full service.
With so many syncing services that simply blow iDisk away I don?t think Apple can stick with only a paid model. They already made Find My iPhone free. I think making OTA syncing of contacts, calendars, and, as you say, 1GB of data for iDisk they can get people more attached to the ecosystem and encourage additional MM paid subscriptions.
Will mail be included in this service? I think the mindshare of Apple is great enough that if they offered free email to users the way Google did we could see another shift in email in this century. Although if they do that I hope they are smart about the adoption the way Google was with Gmail. IOW, you need invites to get access and not the free for all 30-day trail that brought MM to its knees two years ago.
This is part of MobileMe. Like MobileMe it will have a free trial, perhaps 60 days perhaps only 30 days. Then you pay whatever a month. If you want you can later upgrade to the full MobileMe.
They will likely use a single or handful of copies on their servers for most of the music and then perhaps there will be a small (say 2gb) space where you can upload things that aren't in their collection. Or they might reserve that only for full users to do with their idisk with hopefully an improved interface so the two sets will mix and match seamlessly
Comments
What say you all?
I hope there is a free trial period. It takes four hours for a hi def movie to buffer on the Apple TV now with Fios and Time Capsule. If I have to wait one hour for a song to play...
What? When I rent a movie I can begin watching instantly. I believe you have other technical issues you need to resolve (EDIT - or are you talking about wifi streaming at home?)
Hate to sound like an old timer, but I'll stick with a MacBook Pro and an iPod classic. iOS is not baked yet.
Nothing wrong with MBP and iPod Classic but IOS is pretty baked. Still developing but baked. I heard someone else say that the other day. An old lady who's son had told her IOS was not ready for 'prime time'. I had a sneaking suspicion and when I asked, sure enough - her son worked in IT
With the "Decommisioning" of unlimited Data plans, it would seem that anything that is Cloud based would be running fast into a Brick Wall.
What say you all?
I agree. I have FIOS now with no cap but it could be a matter of time. I left comcast due to their monthly 250gb cap. The lady told me when I called to cancel that most people don't go over that. Well, i'm not most people lady.
And with more and more online streaming more people will be hitting that.
I don't get it.
I pay £10 a month to Spotify. For that, I get unlimited streaming of any music I want, regardless of whether it's on my computer or whether I've bought it or accessed it before. I can access it from a PC/Mac, from an iPhone or from an Android, Symbian or other smartphone. I don't have to do any uploading and I get everything in nice 320kbps Vorbis quality. I can even download unlimited tracks to my iPhone's local memory and play them back when I have no signal.
Spotify is very nice and I'm very happy to pay my $10, but it isn't true to say that you can have any music you want. You can only have what they have licensed. Try listening to Adele's 21 on spotify.
Any story with the word "could" in it is pure puffery. (I remember reading a story in USA Today that said Apple "could" be in financial trouble if Android tablets outsell iPads! WTF)
Apple *could* charge $1 per byte.
Hmm. Better than the telecoms, at least.
Came here to say exactly this. I really look forward to my Mac becoming my server while my iPad and iPhone are the clients. Should be a lot of fun and really useful!
Me too.
I really think the idea of a personal cloud has more possibilities than the single 3rd party cloud.
But it should be configurable in some declarative way, so you can define what goes where, with Apple or any other 3rd party slotting in where you need it for a price.
But, really, streaming everything sounds to me like brawn over brain. I think our personal cloud should try for a 90/10 rule where 90% has been side-loaded via our home LANs through Smart Rules and then 10% is a top-up as needed and if that content is already on a server somewhere then that's an optimisation too.
It should be like Dropbox. Buy a song from iTunes and that song will appear on all your computer and devices without syncing.
Sad the way everyone says "like Dropbox" and not "like iDisk".
The great guys at Dropbox have a made a business out of iDisk not being very good.
Yeah why can't we have unlimited access to the music we already purchased?
I?m inclined to thin that is the deal Apple struck with the labels. Your iTunes Store music purchase gets you the downloaded file and access to the file from their master server.
I don?t think Apple cares about the cost of the data at this point if it solidifies their ecosystem and creates even more HW spending to support it. I would not be surprised if they did lower the bit rate of music, not because of data costs but because of limitations of bandwidth.
Sad the way everyone says "like Dropbox" and not "like iDisk".
The great guys at Dropbox have a made a business out of iDisk not being very good.
People say that those that post here are ?Apple apologistis? but I don?t recall ever reading comments about iDisk being good. I?ve found it useful at times, but by that same token I?ve also found mono useful for getting me out of school for a month.
They are feeling the pinch.
Sad the way everyone says "like Dropbox" and not "like iDisk".
The great guys at Dropbox have a made a business out of iDisk not being very good.
I know Dropbox has greater "mind share" especially in the Mac community, but I use both DBox and SugarSync and prefer SugarSync.
1. Cheaper for mass backup/sync
2. You don't keep stuff in your "Dropbox" in SugarSync - you keep it where you usually keep it - and Sugarsync backs it up from there.
3. Access to any backed up file on any web-connected computer - access, edit, save and resync.
Lots of other good features - automatically moves all your phone-taken pictures to your primary computer (Mac or PC) - AND gives you access to ALL your synced photos on your phone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.). So also a good solution for a mixed OS environment. Supposedly allows you to play any of your backed up music anywhere as well - but haven't tried this yet.
I know Dropbox has greater "mind share" especially in the Mac community, but I use both DBox and SugarSync and prefer SugarSync.
1. Cheaper for mass backup/sync
2. You don't keep stuff in your "Dropbox" in SugarSync - you keep it where you usually keep it - and Sugarsync backs it up from there.
3. Access to any backed up file on any web-connected computer - access, edit, save and resync.
Lots of other good features - automatically moves all your phone-taken pictures to your primary computer (Mac or PC) - AND gives you access to ALL your synced photos on your phone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc.). So also a good solution for a mixed OS environment. Supposedly allows you to play any of your backed up music anywhere as well - but haven't tried this yet.
SugarSync has some nice features but I think that it?s less popular because they require a CC/PayPal for just doing the 30-day trial and after that you?re minimum cost is $5/month or $50/year.
SugarSync has some nice features but I think that it’s less popular because they require a CC/PayPal for just doing the 30-day trial and after that you’re minimum cost is $5/month or $50/year.
Not so. There's a more generous free plan than DropBox's as well. 5GB instead of 2GB.
From the site:
"5 GB Free Plan - Not a trial but a free account with no credit cards and no monthly payment. Sign up"
Note: for those who care - and to be balanced - I believe DropBox uses 256 bit AES encyprtion and S.Sync uses 128 bit.
Not so. There's a more generous free plan than DropBox's as well. 5GB instead of 2GB.
From the site:
"5 GB Free Plan - Not a trial but a free account with no credit cards and no monthly payment. Sign up"
Note: for those who care - and to be balanced - I believe DropBox uses 256 bit AES encyprtion and S.Sync uses 128 bit.
Thanks. I never bothered with SS because their paid service was overshadowing their free service too much.
I know people seem to think this new data center is basically music streaming, but I?m expecting something a completely redone MobileMe that will finally make iDisk usable again.
Apple currently has "home sharing" between devices that use the same Apple ID on a local network. All they need is to change that LAN sharing to WAN sharing, and keep the Apple ID requirement. Home Sharing becomes Remote Sharing.
This functionality is built into Windows 7 but it has never been a killer feature because most people either don't know it exists, don't know how to set it up, or don't want to leave their PC on.
If Apple are going to go with streaming from home they need to find a way to make it simple to set up and run.
I think they should release a NAS box (maybe "iHome" or "iHub") that acts as a networked time machine and iTunes server.
...I think they should release a NAS box (maybe "iHome" or "iHub") that acts as a networked time machine and iTunes server.
I can use my OLD Apple TV as somewhat of an iTunes server. For some reason Apple won't update it to stream to the new apple tv or my iPhone, even though it can stream to Airport Express.
I know people seem to think this new data center is basically music streaming, but I?m expecting something a completely redone MobileMe that will finally make iDisk usable again.
I think you're spot on with this. Music streaming is only going to be one tiny feature of the revamped MobileMe.
I also think the article is correct in that MobileMe will continue to be a service you pay for.
Apple might offer a very cut-down (i.e. 1GB limit) free account, but I think it's more likely they will have a 1 or 2 month free trial of the full service.
I think you're spot on with this. Music streaming is only going to be one tiny feature of the revamped MobileMe.
I also think the article is correct in that MobileMe will continue to be a service you pay for.
Apple might offer a very cut-down (i.e. 1GB limit) free account, but I think it's more likely they will have a 1 or 2 month free trial of the full service.
With so many syncing services that simply blow iDisk away I don?t think Apple can stick with only a paid model. They already made Find My iPhone free. I think making OTA syncing of contacts, calendars, and, as you say, 1GB of data for iDisk they can get people more attached to the ecosystem and encourage additional MM paid subscriptions.
Will mail be included in this service? I think the mindshare of Apple is great enough that if they offered free email to users the way Google did we could see another shift in email in this century. Although if they do that I hope they are smart about the adoption the way Google was with Gmail. IOW, you need invites to get access and not the free for all 30-day trail that brought MM to its knees two years ago.
They will likely use a single or handful of copies on their servers for most of the music and then perhaps there will be a small (say 2gb) space where you can upload things that aren't in their collection. Or they might reserve that only for full users to do with their idisk with hopefully an improved interface so the two sets will mix and match seamlessly