To add to the discussion about merging accounts, what about those like me who started purchasing stuff off of iTunes forever and a day ago and had that Apple ID, and then later signed up for MobileMe? I now have my MobileMe account that I really want to use as my primary for everything. It currently does all my email, contacts, calendar, and file syncing. But I still have to use my old Apple ID for iTunes because it has all of my purchases on it. Because MobileMe (and now iCloud) accounts are immediately considered an Apple ID upon creation and don't exist before creation, we have no way of merging the two accounts. I can't simply add my MobileMe email address to my iTunes Apple ID and then use it for purchases from here on out because it's already a different Apple ID. But if I start using my MobileMe account for purchases and to try transition that way it'll be years (if ever) before my old purchases fall by the wayside or are put on sale for free to be downloaded again. iTunes Match has the potential to alleviate the music portion for a one time $25 fee and some re-downloading, but movies, apps, and books then are still left out in the cold. And not just iTunes purchases, but Apple products and AppleCare that I've registered.
So here's a good reason and use case for merging accounts: user convenience and service simplicity. Apple's solution is neither convenient or simple for the end user. Apple is expected to "sweat the details" so the end user doesn't have to. I'm quite surprised there isn't even a very limited merging ability, like when you first create your MobileMe/iCloud account you're presented the option of replacing ONE previous Apple ID (so more of a replace than a merge). That at least would be a start.
*sigh* I guess I should just resign myself to forever juggling 2 accounts. \
You will need to continue to use both accounts for the foreseeable future. It's not as bad as you think. After updating Lion, you will automatically be prompted to move your MobileMe account to iCloud. It's a very easy and quick transition. Then in iOS 5 you will enter your MobileMe email address, now your iCloud email address, and use that for everything except iTunes and the App Store. There is no problem in using your original, non-MobileMe address for those services. You won't miss out on anything by not having one account for everything except simplicity. But the good news is that once you put in your account for iCloud once, it's set. You don't have to enter that password at different screens all the time. You will simply use your iTunes password for any purchases, and iCloud will continue to work in the background without any further intervention from you.
…Artificial Intelligence. Siri on iPhone 4S lets us use our voices to “send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls” all “by talking the way we talk.” Apple states that we are “actually having a conversation” with our iPhone. In reality, this is the first device that has a UI (user interface) that is verbal and functional throughout the core system. This technology has been around for a while, but it has never been applied properly and it was never very accurate. We have seen it is movies and our dreams, but that is where it stayed.
This is a little off the subject, but Siri will no doubt be a boon for people with low vision. (Edit : comments about VoiceOver deleted)
For further news on Siri. Google 'Siri', and then select 'News for Siri'.
I am guessing that Siri will be on iPad 3, and I definitely will be getting one regardless. There has been some speculation that Siri will eventually become available on the iPad 2 if there are not any hardware limitations involved.
iCloud will work on the iPhone 4S on Wednesday, but iCloud won't work on Macs without 10.7.2. It seems more likely than not that Apple would issue iCloud early. So far as I can see, it is like predicting that the sun will come up before it's light out.
Definitely wait a bit to switch Mobile Me accounts and Apple IDs to iCloud accounts. It may be a bumpy ride and once you make the switch on an account you can't undo it. Trust me.
:I'd like to see Tim Cook set up a department in Apple called the Think Normal group, to tidy up after all that thinking differently.:
It is perfectly grammatical to use "different" (or any other word) metalinquistically as the object of a verb.
If you ask, "How do I get to Poughkeepsie," the word "Poughkeepsie" refers to the city.
If you ask, "How do you spell Poughkeepsie?" you are using "Poughkeepsie" to refer to the name of the city, not the city itself. You can't spell a city, but you can spell its name.
"Think Differently" is how to think. "Think Different" is what to think about. Your math teacher might tell you to "think differently" to find a different way to come up with the same answer, but that's not what they mean by "Think Different." They want a different outcome, not just a different method.
You can see this by replacing "think" with "spell." If someone asks "how do the British spell different" the answer is "D I F F E R E N T." If someone asks "how do the British spell differently," the answer is, well, different.
Think Normal and Think Normally mean different things, too.
I guess some people have to think differently before they can think different.
Definitely wait a bit to switch Mobile Me accounts and Apple IDs to iCloud accounts. It may be a bumpy ride and once you make the switch on an account you can't undo it. Trust me.
If that's true, it's going to be just as much a bumpy ride and just as irreversible as it would have been if I hadn't waited. There will be plenty of other early adopters sharing their experiences. What difference does waiting make? Isn't it like waiting to read today's newspaper until tomorrow's comes out? Shouldn't I just jump in and get it over with?
If that's true, it's going to be just as much a bumpy ride and just as irreversible as it would have been if I hadn't waited. There will be plenty of other early adopters sharing their experiences. What difference does waiting make? Isn't it like waiting to read today's newspaper until tomorrow's comes out? Shouldn't I just jump in and get it over with?
First, the early adopters will run into the issues, if you wait and read their experiences first you may get advice that helps you avoid some problems. Second, there may be bugs either in the OS or on the server side - waiting until Apple has made fixes can also help avoid problems.
In general it always makes sense to wait a bit on upgrades - in the case of transitioning an account which is going to get permanent changes, even more so.
It is perfectly grammatical to use "different" (or any other word) metalinquistically as the object of a verb.
[...]
"Think Differently" is how to think. "Think Different" is what to think about. Your math teacher might tell you to "think differently" to find a different way to come up with the same answer, but that's not what they mean by "Think Different." They want a different outcome, not just a different method.
Exactly, nobody has a problem with the statement: 'Think large'.
?You don?t get it!? I laughed at the TV screen. The CNBC stock analysts smugly snickered to each other about how the new product being presented by Steve Jobs was going*flop. They agreed that he may have lost his magic. Their argument centered on three things:
1) It?s name was undesirable. It reminded people of a feminine hygiene product.
2) It was doomed to fail. Other companies like Dell, IBM and Microsoft provided similar products in the past. Barely anyone bought them.
3) There was no obvious need for a new in-between device.
That event, when the iPad was introduced by Steve in early 2010, combined with the early reaction from the media, changed me. I had an epiphany. I remember seeing the same media responses for the iPod and iPhone events. How did they not notice what was so obvious? I, like Steve, imagined doctors showing patients digital x-rays with the iPad. I saw teachers using it in classrooms and students doing homework with it. Dads would use it for presentations and reports. Moms could read emails and magazines, perusing websites and playing games, all on the couch. Kids would watch TV and movies in the back seat of the car. I saw what Steve saw. There was only a small minority that knew right from the beginning what a revolutionary device it was. Soon, within months, iPad fever caught on.
Now, I see a similar response to the iPhone 4S. ?We waited a year and a half for this?? is what some people question. I see blogs and news reports all touting how ?lackluster? the iPhone 4S is. People wanted a redesigned phone with LTE 4G speed. They wanted NFC (near field communications) where they could swipe and pay. They wanted a bigger screen that looked like some of these monsters Google and Samsung are producing. Well, guess what?
You don?t get it. Again.
We all know that the difference between Apple and other companies is Apple?s ability to take products and technologies, sometimes other companies? creations, and makes them more beautiful, relevant and practical. They have done this better than anyone in history. Now, we are witnessing their best work and Steve Job?s masterpiece, and barely anyone seems to notice.
I am not talking about the 8MB camera or the world phone capabilities or the dual antenna of the iPhone 4S. I am talking about two things that are about to change our world forever.
1) Cloud computing. No longer will we be restricted to one laptop or desktop for our documents, pictures, video, email, software, songs, art or anything else. Where we go, our stuff goes. On any device. iPhone, MacBook, iMac, iPad. Yes this technology existed in other devices, but as it was,*it lacked*functionality. The iOS 5 release changes that.
2) Artificial Intelligence. Siri on iPhone 4S lets us use our voices to ?send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls? all ?by talking the way we talk.? Apple states that we are ?actually having a conversation? with our iPhone. In reality, this is the first device that has a UI (user interface) that is verbal and functional throughout the core system. This technology has been around for a while, but it has never been applied properly and it was never very accurate. We have seen it is movies and our dreams, but that is where it stayed.
Do you get it yet? Now is the time and now we have the right devices. The customers (us) have matured. Steve saw a dad waking up in the morning and saying ?Siri, start my coffee,? and then the iPhone would send a message to the coffee maker. Steve wanted Moms to say ?Siri, how do I get rid of this rash?? while they held the camera to their arm. Siri would recommend an anti-fungal cream.
Steve could see a child asking ?Siri, where is Grandpa?? only to find out he is a few blocks away driving in the child?s direction. Steve saw a million possibilities.
The iPhone 4s is much bigger and more special than most people yet realize. iCould is the proliferation of digital freedom. Siri is the beginning of verbal user interfaces combined with artificial intelligence.
We are about to go on a ride that is limitless. Steve got it. Soon, we will all get it.
This was an awesome write-up. And you are right, this is exactly the kind of vision that Steve had. Actually you can definitely see this is where they want ALL of your devices (including your Mac) to eventually go to. For instance, I was helping my son with his homework. Using Google Chrome, I was able to speak into my computer and ask it to look up something. It was right then that it made perfect sense. I wasn't having to type it in, it was very natural. And it gave me the right result!
That is the future of computing, where you just ask it to do something, and it responds. Yes, you will still have the keyboard and mouse, but it is now also including your voice.
My understanding is that Apple can merge two Apple IDs over the phone, and that they are working on a way to do it from the web site.
I have two AppleIDs, but not because I wanted to skirt some restriction. It was just out of general dippiness, because I didn't realize the significance of what I was doing back then. I don't need to merge them, because as soon as I found out I had two (about five years ago) I just stopped using one of them.
Any way, this is a fixable problem, the only question is how to fix it.
Comments
To add to the discussion about merging accounts, what about those like me who started purchasing stuff off of iTunes forever and a day ago and had that Apple ID, and then later signed up for MobileMe? I now have my MobileMe account that I really want to use as my primary for everything. It currently does all my email, contacts, calendar, and file syncing. But I still have to use my old Apple ID for iTunes because it has all of my purchases on it. Because MobileMe (and now iCloud) accounts are immediately considered an Apple ID upon creation and don't exist before creation, we have no way of merging the two accounts. I can't simply add my MobileMe email address to my iTunes Apple ID and then use it for purchases from here on out because it's already a different Apple ID. But if I start using my MobileMe account for purchases and to try transition that way it'll be years (if ever) before my old purchases fall by the wayside or are put on sale for free to be downloaded again. iTunes Match has the potential to alleviate the music portion for a one time $25 fee and some re-downloading, but movies, apps, and books then are still left out in the cold. And not just iTunes purchases, but Apple products and AppleCare that I've registered.
So here's a good reason and use case for merging accounts: user convenience and service simplicity. Apple's solution is neither convenient or simple for the end user. Apple is expected to "sweat the details" so the end user doesn't have to. I'm quite surprised there isn't even a very limited merging ability, like when you first create your MobileMe/iCloud account you're presented the option of replacing ONE previous Apple ID (so more of a replace than a merge). That at least would be a start.
*sigh* I guess I should just resign myself to forever juggling 2 accounts.
You will need to continue to use both accounts for the foreseeable future. It's not as bad as you think. After updating Lion, you will automatically be prompted to move your MobileMe account to iCloud. It's a very easy and quick transition. Then in iOS 5 you will enter your MobileMe email address, now your iCloud email address, and use that for everything except iTunes and the App Store. There is no problem in using your original, non-MobileMe address for those services. You won't miss out on anything by not having one account for everything except simplicity. But the good news is that once you put in your account for iCloud once, it's set. You don't have to enter that password at different screens all the time. You will simply use your iTunes password for any purchases, and iCloud will continue to work in the background without any further intervention from you.
Time for Lion? Sounds like we Snow Leopard hold-outs might get left out of the cloud....
My thoughts as well
I will sit and wait
Maybe sl users will get this
Don't want to upgrade to lion just yet
Siri is the beginning of verbal user interfaces combined with artificial intelligence.
Maybe.
We've seen both pieces before. They never really worked well enough to be practical.
Maybe this time around things will work better, maybe even to the degree that such old technologies becomes useful.
But none of us yet know.
P.S. - You write well.
…Artificial Intelligence. Siri on iPhone 4S lets us use our voices to “send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls” all “by talking the way we talk.” Apple states that we are “actually having a conversation” with our iPhone. In reality, this is the first device that has a UI (user interface) that is verbal and functional throughout the core system. This technology has been around for a while, but it has never been applied properly and it was never very accurate. We have seen it is movies and our dreams, but that is where it stayed.
This is a little off the subject, but Siri will no doubt be a boon for people with low vision. (Edit : comments about VoiceOver deleted)
For further news on Siri. Google 'Siri', and then select 'News for Siri'.
For technical background: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...web8852550.DTL
For a list of sample Siri commands: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/05/iphon...u-say-to-siri/
I am guessing that Siri will be on iPad 3, and I definitely will be getting one regardless. There has been some speculation that Siri will eventually become available on the iPad 2 if there are not any hardware limitations involved.
:I'd like to see Tim Cook set up a department in Apple called the Think Normal group, to tidy up after all that thinking differently.:
It is perfectly grammatical to use "different" (or any other word) metalinquistically as the object of a verb.
If you ask, "How do I get to Poughkeepsie," the word "Poughkeepsie" refers to the city.
If you ask, "How do you spell Poughkeepsie?" you are using "Poughkeepsie" to refer to the name of the city, not the city itself. You can't spell a city, but you can spell its name.
"Think Differently" is how to think. "Think Different" is what to think about. Your math teacher might tell you to "think differently" to find a different way to come up with the same answer, but that's not what they mean by "Think Different." They want a different outcome, not just a different method.
You can see this by replacing "think" with "spell." If someone asks "how do the British spell different" the answer is "D I F F E R E N T." If someone asks "how do the British spell differently," the answer is, well, different.
Think Normal and Think Normally mean different things, too.
I guess some people have to think differently before they can think different.
Definitely wait a bit to switch Mobile Me accounts and Apple IDs to iCloud accounts. It may be a bumpy ride and once you make the switch on an account you can't undo it. Trust me.
If that's true, it's going to be just as much a bumpy ride and just as irreversible as it would have been if I hadn't waited. There will be plenty of other early adopters sharing their experiences. What difference does waiting make? Isn't it like waiting to read today's newspaper until tomorrow's comes out? Shouldn't I just jump in and get it over with?
If that's true, it's going to be just as much a bumpy ride and just as irreversible as it would have been if I hadn't waited. There will be plenty of other early adopters sharing their experiences. What difference does waiting make? Isn't it like waiting to read today's newspaper until tomorrow's comes out? Shouldn't I just jump in and get it over with?
First, the early adopters will run into the issues, if you wait and read their experiences first you may get advice that helps you avoid some problems. Second, there may be bugs either in the OS or on the server side - waiting until Apple has made fixes can also help avoid problems.
In general it always makes sense to wait a bit on upgrades - in the case of transitioning an account which is going to get permanent changes, even more so.
It is perfectly grammatical to use "different" (or any other word) metalinquistically as the object of a verb.
[...]
"Think Differently" is how to think. "Think Different" is what to think about. Your math teacher might tell you to "think differently" to find a different way to come up with the same answer, but that's not what they mean by "Think Different." They want a different outcome, not just a different method.
Exactly, nobody has a problem with the statement: 'Think large'.
?You don?t get it!? I laughed at the TV screen. The CNBC stock analysts smugly snickered to each other about how the new product being presented by Steve Jobs was going*flop. They agreed that he may have lost his magic. Their argument centered on three things:
1) It?s name was undesirable. It reminded people of a feminine hygiene product.
2) It was doomed to fail. Other companies like Dell, IBM and Microsoft provided similar products in the past. Barely anyone bought them.
3) There was no obvious need for a new in-between device.
That event, when the iPad was introduced by Steve in early 2010, combined with the early reaction from the media, changed me. I had an epiphany. I remember seeing the same media responses for the iPod and iPhone events. How did they not notice what was so obvious? I, like Steve, imagined doctors showing patients digital x-rays with the iPad. I saw teachers using it in classrooms and students doing homework with it. Dads would use it for presentations and reports. Moms could read emails and magazines, perusing websites and playing games, all on the couch. Kids would watch TV and movies in the back seat of the car. I saw what Steve saw. There was only a small minority that knew right from the beginning what a revolutionary device it was. Soon, within months, iPad fever caught on.
Now, I see a similar response to the iPhone 4S. ?We waited a year and a half for this?? is what some people question. I see blogs and news reports all touting how ?lackluster? the iPhone 4S is. People wanted a redesigned phone with LTE 4G speed. They wanted NFC (near field communications) where they could swipe and pay. They wanted a bigger screen that looked like some of these monsters Google and Samsung are producing. Well, guess what?
You don?t get it. Again.
We all know that the difference between Apple and other companies is Apple?s ability to take products and technologies, sometimes other companies? creations, and makes them more beautiful, relevant and practical. They have done this better than anyone in history. Now, we are witnessing their best work and Steve Job?s masterpiece, and barely anyone seems to notice.
I am not talking about the 8MB camera or the world phone capabilities or the dual antenna of the iPhone 4S. I am talking about two things that are about to change our world forever.
1) Cloud computing. No longer will we be restricted to one laptop or desktop for our documents, pictures, video, email, software, songs, art or anything else. Where we go, our stuff goes. On any device. iPhone, MacBook, iMac, iPad. Yes this technology existed in other devices, but as it was,*it lacked*functionality. The iOS 5 release changes that.
2) Artificial Intelligence. Siri on iPhone 4S lets us use our voices to ?send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls? all ?by talking the way we talk.? Apple states that we are ?actually having a conversation? with our iPhone. In reality, this is the first device that has a UI (user interface) that is verbal and functional throughout the core system. This technology has been around for a while, but it has never been applied properly and it was never very accurate. We have seen it is movies and our dreams, but that is where it stayed.
Do you get it yet? Now is the time and now we have the right devices. The customers (us) have matured. Steve saw a dad waking up in the morning and saying ?Siri, start my coffee,? and then the iPhone would send a message to the coffee maker. Steve wanted Moms to say ?Siri, how do I get rid of this rash?? while they held the camera to their arm. Siri would recommend an anti-fungal cream.
Steve could see a child asking ?Siri, where is Grandpa?? only to find out he is a few blocks away driving in the child?s direction. Steve saw a million possibilities.
The iPhone 4s is much bigger and more special than most people yet realize. iCould is the proliferation of digital freedom. Siri is the beginning of verbal user interfaces combined with artificial intelligence.
We are about to go on a ride that is limitless. Steve got it. Soon, we will all get it.
This was an awesome write-up. And you are right, this is exactly the kind of vision that Steve had. Actually you can definitely see this is where they want ALL of your devices (including your Mac) to eventually go to. For instance, I was helping my son with his homework. Using Google Chrome, I was able to speak into my computer and ask it to look up something. It was right then that it made perfect sense. I wasn't having to type it in, it was very natural. And it gave me the right result!
That is the future of computing, where you just ask it to do something, and it responds. Yes, you will still have the keyboard and mouse, but it is now also including your voice.
I have two AppleIDs, but not because I wanted to skirt some restriction. It was just out of general dippiness, because I didn't realize the significance of what I was doing back then. I don't need to merge them, because as soon as I found out I had two (about five years ago) I just stopped using one of them.
Any way, this is a fixable problem, the only question is how to fix it.