Edit: Depending on what they are doing, Amazon could be a dark horse for the post-pc era. They already have the Cloud, Marketing, Sales and distro chops. If they make their own hardware and OS (fork Android or Linux) they could be quite competitive -- no legacy baggage.
I?ve stated on many occasion that Amazon could be Apple?s biggest competitor in the tablet market. It seems clear to me that the Kindle will evolve into an Android-based system using a color display that will do video. As you state, they have the ecosystem which is what others can?t seem to get a handle when it comes to Apple?s success.
I’ve stated on many occasion that Amazon could be Apple’s biggest competitor in the tablet market. It seems clear to me that the Kindle will evolve into an Android-based system using a color display that will do video. As you state, they have the ecosystem which is what others can’t seem to get a handle when it comes to Apple’s success.
Yeah, remembering some of your (and others) AMZN posts was the reason I added that afterthought. I think Android is OK for the short term -- but longer term, they'll want to own their OS and hardware.
Odd -- How interesting it would have been had Amazon bought Palm instead of HP. Who knew?
Yeah, remembering some of your (and others) AMZN posts was the reason I added that afterthought. I think Android is OK for the short term -- but longer term, they'll want to own their OS and hardware.
Odd -- How interesting it would have been had Amazon bought Palm instead of HP. Who knew?
At the rate HP is declining and Amazon is growing they’ll be able to buy HP and get Palm as default in a few years.
(Disclaimer: my statement is not to be taken seriously as HP makes a lot more profit than Amazon. I think it’s a difference of 10:1)
1) the source need not be the Cloud only -- it could be a home server, the cloud, both or many (like bit torrents).
2) the streaming speed and amount of segmenting of files are settable
3) the media is not limited to audio only
You could have a dynamic system between the source(s) and destination, where they ahndshake and agree on an ad hoc setup for segmenting and streaming speeds -- then the destination device adjusts its buffering and reassembly algorithms accordingly.
Ya' gets what ya' pay for!
That would be good but it seems to me to be something that Apple are already very poor at achieving.
A person with a Mac at home, an Air for the road and an iPad still has to manage most of his data manually. There's almost no concept of an ecosystem when it comes to data.
When Apple do try to sync, they have a nasty habit of mangling people's data, or just losing it. I mentioned recently on a non-tech forum I participate in that I had lost data in some MobileMe apps and half the forum joined in with horror stories of lost data through syncing and data conversion.
I like the idea but I just don't know if Apple can design it and code it. It's just not an area where they have much expertise.
That would be good but it seems to me to be something that Apple are already very poor at achieving.
A person with a Mac at home, an Air for the road and an iPad still has to manage most of his data manually. There's almost no concept of an ecosystem when it comes to data.
When Apple do try to sync, they have a nasty habit of mangling people's data, or just losing it. I mentioned recently on a non-tech forum I participate in that I had lost data in some MobileMe apps and half the forum joined in with horror stories of lost data through syncing and data conversion.
I like the idea but I just don't know if Apple can design it and code it. It's just not an area where they have much expertise.
Sigh...
I mostly agree with you!
Apple does Mail well... but has problems syncing most other data.
I think they need to do 2 things near term before they get their Cloud act together;
1) Make a drop-dead simple home-content-server offering, with unlimited storage, that serves all users and All Apple computers/iDevices in the home
2) TimeMachine -- for the above
Then, next, is to allow both the above to securely stage their data between the home and the Cloud.
Where you stage content becomes a decision of how quickly/frequently do you need to access it-- it takes more work and time to go down into catacombs (in the Cloud) to access old or not-recently-used content -- but it is there, and you can percolate it up to "active status" and store it local to where you need to use it, for however long youI need it.
Apple does Mail well... but has problems syncing most other data.
I think they need to do 2 things near term before they get their Cloud act together;
1) Make a drop-dead simple home-content-server offering, with unlimited storage, that serves all users and All Apple computers/iDevices in the home
2) TimeMachine -- for the above
Then, next, is to allow both the above to securely stage their data between the home and the Cloud.
Where you stage content becomes a decision of how quickly/frequently do you need to access it-- it takes more work and time to go down into catacombs (in the Cloud) to access old or not-recently-used content -- but it is there, and you can percolate it up to "active status" and store it local to where you need to use it, for however long youI need it.
They need to have Time Machine for your cloud synced data. The way Time Machine works is the way Dropbox works. It only backs up changes, thus reducing the time to sync and the amount of data being sent, and allows for previous versions to be retrieved.
If they do this right, which I think Time Machine has shown they can, the customer should never be afraid to lose any personal data. If you edit or delete a note in Notes you should have a web interface, Mail.app on Mac interface, and Notes on iDevice interface to sift through your previous versions to find and restore the old data.
Anything you delete would simply be help in Trash, just like with Dropbox, and only deleted if take the steeps to access the deleted files and then permanently delete them.
I would hope that at least the me.com/icloud.com/whatever.com site would allow all synced data to have the same option of retrieving potentially lost info, even if there isn’t a local app that can service it directly. For example, I wouldn’t expect Contacts in the iOS to have a portal to retrieve a contact I edited incorrectly, but I would expect that to be “fixable” from my web access.
I might be expecting too much from Apple but after seeing what Dropbox and SugarSync can do on a shoestring budget, how similar the technology in Time Machine with intelligent backups, and the time, cost and effort put into this data center I hope they done exactly what I expect.
They need to have Time Machine for your cloud synced data. The way Time Machine works is the way Dropbox works. It only backs up changes, thus reducing the time to sync and the amount of data being sent, and allows for previous versions to be retrieved.
If they do this right, which I think Time Machine has shown they can, the customer should never be afraid to lose any personal data. If you edit or delete a note in Notes you should have a web interface, Mail.app on Mac interface, and Notes on iDevice interface to sift through your previous versions to find and restore the old data.
Anything you delete would simply be help in Trash, just like with Dropbox, and only deleted if take the steeps to access the deleted files and then permanently delete them.
I would hope that at least the me.com/icloud.com/whatever.com site would allow all synced data to have the same option of retrieving potentially lost info, even if there isn’t a local app that can service it directly. For example, I wouldn’t expect Contacts in the iOS to have a portal to retrieve a contact I edited incorrectly, but I would expect that to be “fixable” from my web access.
I might be expecting too much from Apple but after seeing what Dropbox and SugarSync can do on a shoestring budget, how similar the technology in Time Machine with intelligent backups, and the time, cost and effort put into this data center I hope they done exactly what I expect.
Exactly -- the key is TimeMachine and Apple has [mostly] solved that for an individual user's disk.
In my understanding of the post-pc world all meaningful content would be synced to the Cloud - unless you specifically exclude it.
TimeMachine, then is the Cloud! If your house burns down and destroys all your computers and data -- you buy a new computer login, and TimeMachine recreates your environment.
The home-content-server is merely a place to "put your stuff" -- the stuff you're working on now!
In fact, if you think about it -- theTimeMachine and Home-Content_server are just different apps running in a single box -- and that box, likely is a headless iOS box -- that can get a head (careful, now from any authorized Mac or iDevice with a screen.
I am a little surprised that Apple didn't buy the likes of DropBox -- the only reason I can think of is that Apple is already working on a similar solution.
I?m imagining that your iTunes play history could easily be used to determine which songs to add or not add.
Now I?m thinking of the iPod app setup much like your Contacts on the iPhone where you can choose a different group, but in this case it?s All, Local Only and iCloud Only.
If you choose All they all show up and when you start to play a song not locally stored it polls iCloud for the rest of the track and will store that track on the device temporarily for a set duration just in case you play it again. After a pre-determined time frame will be cleared from the cache.
What they really should do is simplify everyone's life by removing the need to manually manage media on our devices. Smart syncing of files so your favorites are kept on the device with cloud streaming for everything else.
When you buy a new iDevice you should just need to type in your iTunes username and password and your music, apps, books, contacts, etc should start sync'ing. No need to plug in a usb cable to get stuff on your device. When you buy something from iTunes/iBooks/Appstore it should be accessible on all devices.
This should all be transparent to the user. They shouldn't need to care what is on the device and what is in the cloud.
Comments
Edit: Depending on what they are doing, Amazon could be a dark horse for the post-pc era. They already have the Cloud, Marketing, Sales and distro chops. If they make their own hardware and OS (fork Android or Linux) they could be quite competitive -- no legacy baggage.
I?ve stated on many occasion that Amazon could be Apple?s biggest competitor in the tablet market. It seems clear to me that the Kindle will evolve into an Android-based system using a color display that will do video. As you state, they have the ecosystem which is what others can?t seem to get a handle when it comes to Apple?s success.
I’ve stated on many occasion that Amazon could be Apple’s biggest competitor in the tablet market. It seems clear to me that the Kindle will evolve into an Android-based system using a color display that will do video. As you state, they have the ecosystem which is what others can’t seem to get a handle when it comes to Apple’s success.
Yeah, remembering some of your (and others) AMZN posts was the reason I added that afterthought. I think Android is OK for the short term -- but longer term, they'll want to own their OS and hardware.
Odd -- How interesting it would have been had Amazon bought Palm instead of HP. Who knew?
Yeah, remembering some of your (and others) AMZN posts was the reason I added that afterthought. I think Android is OK for the short term -- but longer term, they'll want to own their OS and hardware.
Odd -- How interesting it would have been had Amazon bought Palm instead of HP. Who knew?
At the rate HP is declining and Amazon is growing they’ll be able to buy HP and get Palm as default in a few years.
(Disclaimer: my statement is not to be taken seriously as HP makes a lot more profit than Amazon. I think it’s a difference of 10:1)
That's what happened last time.
I wonder about that!
According to the patent:
Whoa! Apple Patent Confirms iTunes Cloud Media Services
1) the source need not be the Cloud only -- it could be a home server, the cloud, both or many (like bit torrents).
2) the streaming speed and amount of segmenting of files are settable
3) the media is not limited to audio only
You could have a dynamic system between the source(s) and destination, where they ahndshake and agree on an ad hoc setup for segmenting and streaming speeds -- then the destination device adjusts its buffering and reassembly algorithms accordingly.
Ya' gets what ya' pay for!
That would be good but it seems to me to be something that Apple are already very poor at achieving.
A person with a Mac at home, an Air for the road and an iPad still has to manage most of his data manually. There's almost no concept of an ecosystem when it comes to data.
When Apple do try to sync, they have a nasty habit of mangling people's data, or just losing it. I mentioned recently on a non-tech forum I participate in that I had lost data in some MobileMe apps and half the forum joined in with horror stories of lost data through syncing and data conversion.
I like the idea but I just don't know if Apple can design it and code it. It's just not an area where they have much expertise.
That would be good but it seems to me to be something that Apple are already very poor at achieving.
A person with a Mac at home, an Air for the road and an iPad still has to manage most of his data manually. There's almost no concept of an ecosystem when it comes to data.
When Apple do try to sync, they have a nasty habit of mangling people's data, or just losing it. I mentioned recently on a non-tech forum I participate in that I had lost data in some MobileMe apps and half the forum joined in with horror stories of lost data through syncing and data conversion.
I like the idea but I just don't know if Apple can design it and code it. It's just not an area where they have much expertise.
Sigh...
I mostly agree with you!
Apple does Mail well... but has problems syncing most other data.
I think they need to do 2 things near term before they get their Cloud act together;
1) Make a drop-dead simple home-content-server offering, with unlimited storage, that serves all users and All Apple computers/iDevices in the home
2) TimeMachine -- for the above
Then, next, is to allow both the above to securely stage their data between the home and the Cloud.
Where you stage content becomes a decision of how quickly/frequently do you need to access it-- it takes more work and time to go down into catacombs (in the Cloud) to access old or not-recently-used content -- but it is there, and you can percolate it up to "active status" and store it local to where you need to use it, for however long youI need it.
Sigh...
I mostly agree with you!
Apple does Mail well... but has problems syncing most other data.
I think they need to do 2 things near term before they get their Cloud act together;
1) Make a drop-dead simple home-content-server offering, with unlimited storage, that serves all users and All Apple computers/iDevices in the home
2) TimeMachine -- for the above
Then, next, is to allow both the above to securely stage their data between the home and the Cloud.
Where you stage content becomes a decision of how quickly/frequently do you need to access it-- it takes more work and time to go down into catacombs (in the Cloud) to access old or not-recently-used content -- but it is there, and you can percolate it up to "active status" and store it local to where you need to use it, for however long youI need it.
They need to have Time Machine for your cloud synced data. The way Time Machine works is the way Dropbox works. It only backs up changes, thus reducing the time to sync and the amount of data being sent, and allows for previous versions to be retrieved.
If they do this right, which I think Time Machine has shown they can, the customer should never be afraid to lose any personal data. If you edit or delete a note in Notes you should have a web interface, Mail.app on Mac interface, and Notes on iDevice interface to sift through your previous versions to find and restore the old data.
Anything you delete would simply be help in Trash, just like with Dropbox, and only deleted if take the steeps to access the deleted files and then permanently delete them.
I would hope that at least the me.com/icloud.com/whatever.com site would allow all synced data to have the same option of retrieving potentially lost info, even if there isn’t a local app that can service it directly. For example, I wouldn’t expect Contacts in the iOS to have a portal to retrieve a contact I edited incorrectly, but I would expect that to be “fixable” from my web access.
I might be expecting too much from Apple but after seeing what Dropbox and SugarSync can do on a shoestring budget, how similar the technology in Time Machine with intelligent backups, and the time, cost and effort put into this data center I hope they done exactly what I expect.
They need to have Time Machine for your cloud synced data. The way Time Machine works is the way Dropbox works. It only backs up changes, thus reducing the time to sync and the amount of data being sent, and allows for previous versions to be retrieved.
If they do this right, which I think Time Machine has shown they can, the customer should never be afraid to lose any personal data. If you edit or delete a note in Notes you should have a web interface, Mail.app on Mac interface, and Notes on iDevice interface to sift through your previous versions to find and restore the old data.
Anything you delete would simply be help in Trash, just like with Dropbox, and only deleted if take the steeps to access the deleted files and then permanently delete them.
I would hope that at least the me.com/icloud.com/whatever.com site would allow all synced data to have the same option of retrieving potentially lost info, even if there isn’t a local app that can service it directly. For example, I wouldn’t expect Contacts in the iOS to have a portal to retrieve a contact I edited incorrectly, but I would expect that to be “fixable” from my web access.
I might be expecting too much from Apple but after seeing what Dropbox and SugarSync can do on a shoestring budget, how similar the technology in Time Machine with intelligent backups, and the time, cost and effort put into this data center I hope they done exactly what I expect.
Exactly -- the key is TimeMachine and Apple has [mostly] solved that for an individual user's disk.
In my understanding of the post-pc world all meaningful content would be synced to the Cloud - unless you specifically exclude it.
TimeMachine, then is the Cloud! If your house burns down and destroys all your computers and data -- you buy a new computer login, and TimeMachine recreates your environment.
The home-content-server is merely a place to "put your stuff" -- the stuff you're working on now!
In fact, if you think about it -- theTimeMachine and Home-Content_server are just different apps running in a single box -- and that box, likely is a headless iOS box -- that can get a head (careful, now
I am a little surprised that Apple didn't buy the likes of DropBox -- the only reason I can think of is that Apple is already working on a similar solution.
I?m imagining that your iTunes play history could easily be used to determine which songs to add or not add.
Now I?m thinking of the iPod app setup much like your Contacts on the iPhone where you can choose a different group, but in this case it?s All, Local Only and iCloud Only.
If you choose All they all show up and when you start to play a song not locally stored it polls iCloud for the rest of the track and will store that track on the device temporarily for a set duration just in case you play it again. After a pre-determined time frame will be cleared from the cache.
What they really should do is simplify everyone's life by removing the need to manually manage media on our devices. Smart syncing of files so your favorites are kept on the device with cloud streaming for everything else.
When you buy a new iDevice you should just need to type in your iTunes username and password and your music, apps, books, contacts, etc should start sync'ing. No need to plug in a usb cable to get stuff on your device. When you buy something from iTunes/iBooks/Appstore it should be accessible on all devices.
This should all be transparent to the user. They shouldn't need to care what is on the device and what is in the cloud.