A friend had an excellent strategy: he used DropBox to hold the documents for his small company - he, and others, could access and change the documents in DropBox regardless of what the device (iPad, iPhone, MBP, etc.). Thought this was a brilliant strategy that allowed him and his team to access the same file from any device. This might solve synching problems and speed up backups.
I think a whole lot of business is going to go DropBox's way if Apple doesn't present a compelling reason to use their cloud at the announcement.
I've been holding off myself because it's not a good thing to trust all your most important documents to a start up with unknown security and possibly even software issues.
For instance the main reason DropBox is faster than most syncing services is that it actually doesn't sync your document if it considers it identical to another document stored by someone else. I haven't heard of any problems related to that yet, but it seems to me to be an idea that's destined to cause some real problems at some point.
They have also had a lot of problems with telling the plain truth to their customers about the security problems they've been having, and how secure your documents are exactly.
iDisk syncing is slow and unreliable, but mostly only on the desktop. All the iOS stuff has performed flawlessly and been quite zippy for me so far. Since that's the only real need I have (keeping my iOS documents in sync and ready to hand), I'm sticking with MobileMe for now.
It seems to me that a lot of the people here want an update for update's sake. This seems to happen an awful lot unfortunately. iWork '11 would see very overdue, but what extra functionality are we all craving so badly? I adore Pages. Numbers needs a few subtle tweaks (typing = and then not being able to use the arrow keys to move to a cell for referencing Ã* la Excel is infuriating for instance). On the whole though, it's still a great suite.
On the synch front, I think Apple will be working on this and we'll have to see what iCloud brings but for the moment, you can use WebDAV and MobileMe (kinda WebDAV too, really). If you want to improve things, try the link below.
I agree with some of the sentiment here though that if Apple truly wants the iPad to be a 'post-PC' device (another term that seems to be catching on, Apple should trademark it fast before it becomes another 'app store') then they need to allow these iOS versions of iWork to be realistically stand alone. That means being able to start, edit and finish a document entirely without going back to the Mac at any point. As long as a traditional computer needs to be in the loop to have access to the suit's full potential, these aren't post-PC devices; they're satellite devices.
I find this kind of disappointing actually. It's a lame update for a bunch of apps that really are in need of some updates.
I was hoping for a serious update to these very apps at the WWDC in consort with the new iCloud, now that's much less likely.
I do *all* my writing in Pages, but I'm almost ready to dump it if they don't update it to a more useable app soon. The first serious word processor for iOS that's actually well designed will likely lure me away. Apple just doesn't seem to want to devote any serious resources to Pages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella
The point is Apple is going to introduce iCloud next week. So just sit tight for one more week.
Sitting tight but chewing on this stat: Apple currently spends 2% of revenue on R&D, while Microsoft, tho' churning an largely unfocused set of projects which often pan out badly, spends 9% and IBM has historically spent more than Apple as well. While this speaks well of Apple's smart targeting of what to spend on, it also says to me that it could advance and polish its products further and faster if it chose to trade a small decline in the bottom line % margin for what should certainly be a larger market share and net revenue.
This says to me it's mainly the haplessness of its competitors to date, that is, that allows numerous hanging, solvable irritants to stick around and perhaps hold back the potential of products like Apple TV and the Mini. And I'm not suggesting a meaningless proliferation of SKU's, tho' I remain mildly surprised the iPhone's still stuck at one physical config and often think randomly about things like a 15" MBA. Still, I'm mostly talking about niggles and things like forever old Finder issues. And we'll see what iCloud offers. MobileMe and its predecessors have never been a value equation in my book.
Also it's not just lumbering MS anymore - there's the whole Googledroid complex, Amazon and others. I would think this would be the time to go petal to the metal on bringing out the most "insanely great" products ever - Apple's strategy on this feels more like pandering to those playing AAPL as a growth stock story - from my limited perspective at least.
But then I didn't build the world's largest retail electronics firm in the world either.
PS: not certain, but I believe the R&D % used to be higher at AAPL.
To me a Post-PC era means the "Network" goes mainstream and becomes more powerful than a single device.
The iPad is a network device ..it eschews a plethora of ports in favor of technologies like Bluetooth and Wifi which enable efficient data transfer via network protocol.
I'm hoping that iCloud becomes that pervasive network "glue" that ties the PC era with the Post-PC era and to that end the next iWork needs to have excellent sharing and collaboration features along with a revamped UI.
iWork 11 is not here which leads me to believe that a fundamental change about how the typical users workflow from creation to sharing/collaboration could be underway.
The key is to get Pages, Keynote and Numbers on every iOS device because a pervasive network must be met with a pervasive app to maximum effect.
A friend had an excellent strategy: he used DropBox to hold the documents for his small company - he, and others, could access and change the documents in DropBox regardless of what the device (iPad, iPhone, MBP, etc.). Thought this was a brilliant strategy that allowed him and his team to access the same file from any device. This might solve synching problems and speed up backups.
Yeah, I thought of that as well. But that requires a WebDAV middle service to interface with the two ends a lot of the times, right? A LOt of apps have built in dropbox support, but not Apple's. I'd like them to introduce some kind of document sync, that automatically syncs changes only, to minimise file transfers.
I set up a mydrive WebDAV thing yesterday, and it works. But then I have to manually send the documents to the WebDAV server each time i want to sync, and I just KNOW that the moment I need it to be there, is the moment I have forgotten to manually send the document
I find this kind of disappointing actually. It's a lame update for a bunch of apps that really are in need of some updates.
I was hoping for a serious update to these very apps at the WWDC in consort with the new iCloud, now that's much less likely.
I do *all* my writing in Pages, but I'm almost ready to dump it if they don't update it to a more useable app soon. The first serious word processor for iOS that's actually well designed will likely lure me away. Apple just doesn't seem to want to devote any serious resources to Pages.
Depending on the type of writing you do, check out scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php) For research and a range of creative writing styles (novels, movies, scripts etc.) it is absolutely brilliant. And cheap.
Yeah, I thought of that as well. But that requires a WebDAV middle service to interface with the two ends a lot of the times, right? A LOt of apps have built in dropbox support, but not Apple's. I'd like them to introduce some kind of document sync, that automatically syncs changes only, to minimise file transfers.
I set up a mydrive WebDAV thing yesterday, and it works. But then I have to manually send the documents to the WebDAV server each time i want to sync, and I just KNOW that the moment I need it to be there, is the moment I have forgotten to manually send the document
Wondering aloud if the "versions" feature in Lion makes an appearance in iOS 5 and by connection iCloud.
I too want to see syncing of delta changes and the ability to collaborate on files with the appropriate file locking for safety. Dropbox is key in how simplistic it is ..but there are indeed ways of extending the feature-set while keeping simplicity. I hope Apple has created the magical elixir.
Keynote for ipad update still wont allow for linking slides together NON SEQUENTIALLY. Its a joke. Seriously I cant figure out why apple would cripple the software like this.
The Keynote Remote app's been out a while. It works great!
Yes, I know -- but as the reviews report, it could only control Keynote on a Mac -- not on another iOS device. Apparently with the recent revisions to iOS Keynote, it now can. This new feature, assuming it works, seems to have flown under the radar. Fans of Keynote on the iPad have been bemoaning the lack of a remote for over a year. Even the bluetooth keyboard didn't work for this. The other question is whether Keynote Remote works with bluetooth, or still requires a wifi network.
Keynote for ipad update still wont allow for linking slides together NON SEQUENTIALLY. Its a joke. Seriously I cant figure out why apple would cripple the software like this.
I did even know what this supposedly essential feature is, so I guess I don't get the joke.
I wonder if Apple believes they will one day make inroads with the Pages and Numbers data formats. It seems unlikely as people would tend to go with the existing Microsoft formats or, if they want openness, go for Open Office or whatever it's called.
I think Apple should make really great front ends for Office docs and open docs as well as their own, as a way of enabling users that make those choices or have no choice and showing just how great the iPhone is.
As advertised, you can now use Keynote Remote to control an iPad Keynote presentation. A thumbnail of the slide and your presenter notes appear on the iPhone. So far, I've only tried it with a wifi network connection.
Comments
A friend had an excellent strategy: he used DropBox to hold the documents for his small company - he, and others, could access and change the documents in DropBox regardless of what the device (iPad, iPhone, MBP, etc.). Thought this was a brilliant strategy that allowed him and his team to access the same file from any device. This might solve synching problems and speed up backups.
I think a whole lot of business is going to go DropBox's way if Apple doesn't present a compelling reason to use their cloud at the announcement.
I've been holding off myself because it's not a good thing to trust all your most important documents to a start up with unknown security and possibly even software issues.
For instance the main reason DropBox is faster than most syncing services is that it actually doesn't sync your document if it considers it identical to another document stored by someone else. I haven't heard of any problems related to that yet, but it seems to me to be an idea that's destined to cause some real problems at some point.
They have also had a lot of problems with telling the plain truth to their customers about the security problems they've been having, and how secure your documents are exactly.
iDisk syncing is slow and unreliable, but mostly only on the desktop. All the iOS stuff has performed flawlessly and been quite zippy for me so far. Since that's the only real need I have (keeping my iOS documents in sync and ready to hand), I'm sticking with MobileMe for now.
On the synch front, I think Apple will be working on this and we'll have to see what iCloud brings but for the moment, you can use WebDAV and MobileMe (kinda WebDAV too, really). If you want to improve things, try the link below.
http://www.thecheapgeek.org/webdav-d...alk-into-a-bar
I agree with some of the sentiment here though that if Apple truly wants the iPad to be a 'post-PC' device (another term that seems to be catching on, Apple should trademark it fast before it becomes another 'app store') then they need to allow these iOS versions of iWork to be realistically stand alone. That means being able to start, edit and finish a document entirely without going back to the Mac at any point. As long as a traditional computer needs to be in the loop to have access to the suit's full potential, these aren't post-PC devices; they're satellite devices.
I find this kind of disappointing actually. It's a lame update for a bunch of apps that really are in need of some updates.
I was hoping for a serious update to these very apps at the WWDC in consort with the new iCloud, now that's much less likely.
I do *all* my writing in Pages, but I'm almost ready to dump it if they don't update it to a more useable app soon. The first serious word processor for iOS that's actually well designed will likely lure me away. Apple just doesn't seem to want to devote any serious resources to Pages.
The point is Apple is going to introduce iCloud next week. So just sit tight for one more week.
Sitting tight but chewing on this stat: Apple currently spends 2% of revenue on R&D, while Microsoft, tho' churning an largely unfocused set of projects which often pan out badly, spends 9% and IBM has historically spent more than Apple as well. While this speaks well of Apple's smart targeting of what to spend on, it also says to me that it could advance and polish its products further and faster if it chose to trade a small decline in the bottom line % margin for what should certainly be a larger market share and net revenue.
This says to me it's mainly the haplessness of its competitors to date, that is, that allows numerous hanging, solvable irritants to stick around and perhaps hold back the potential of products like Apple TV and the Mini. And I'm not suggesting a meaningless proliferation of SKU's, tho' I remain mildly surprised the iPhone's still stuck at one physical config and often think randomly about things like a 15" MBA. Still, I'm mostly talking about niggles and things like forever old Finder issues. And we'll see what iCloud offers. MobileMe and its predecessors have never been a value equation in my book.
Also it's not just lumbering MS anymore - there's the whole Googledroid complex, Amazon and others. I would think this would be the time to go petal to the metal on bringing out the most "insanely great" products ever - Apple's strategy on this feels more like pandering to those playing AAPL as a growth stock story - from my limited perspective at least.
But then I didn't build the world's largest retail electronics firm in the world either.
PS: not certain, but I believe the R&D % used to be higher at AAPL.
The iPad is a network device ..it eschews a plethora of ports in favor of technologies like Bluetooth and Wifi which enable efficient data transfer via network protocol.
I'm hoping that iCloud becomes that pervasive network "glue" that ties the PC era with the Post-PC era and to that end the next iWork needs to have excellent sharing and collaboration features along with a revamped UI.
iWork 11 is not here which leads me to believe that a fundamental change about how the typical users workflow from creation to sharing/collaboration could be underway.
The key is to get Pages, Keynote and Numbers on every iOS device because a pervasive network must be met with a pervasive app to maximum effect.
I just ordered a sandwich and it should be here any moment. I want to feel special so I'm writing to hundreds of people on a forum about it.
You had me at sandwich.
A friend had an excellent strategy: he used DropBox to hold the documents for his small company - he, and others, could access and change the documents in DropBox regardless of what the device (iPad, iPhone, MBP, etc.). Thought this was a brilliant strategy that allowed him and his team to access the same file from any device. This might solve synching problems and speed up backups.
Yeah, I thought of that as well. But that requires a WebDAV middle service to interface with the two ends a lot of the times, right? A LOt of apps have built in dropbox support, but not Apple's. I'd like them to introduce some kind of document sync, that automatically syncs changes only, to minimise file transfers.
I set up a mydrive WebDAV thing yesterday, and it works. But then I have to manually send the documents to the WebDAV server each time i want to sync, and I just KNOW that the moment I need it to be there, is the moment I have forgotten to manually send the document
I find this kind of disappointing actually. It's a lame update for a bunch of apps that really are in need of some updates.
I was hoping for a serious update to these very apps at the WWDC in consort with the new iCloud, now that's much less likely.
I do *all* my writing in Pages, but I'm almost ready to dump it if they don't update it to a more useable app soon. The first serious word processor for iOS that's actually well designed will likely lure me away. Apple just doesn't seem to want to devote any serious resources to Pages.
Depending on the type of writing you do, check out scrivener (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php) For research and a range of creative writing styles (novels, movies, scripts etc.) it is absolutely brilliant. And cheap.
Yeah, I thought of that as well. But that requires a WebDAV middle service to interface with the two ends a lot of the times, right? A LOt of apps have built in dropbox support, but not Apple's. I'd like them to introduce some kind of document sync, that automatically syncs changes only, to minimise file transfers.
I set up a mydrive WebDAV thing yesterday, and it works. But then I have to manually send the documents to the WebDAV server each time i want to sync, and I just KNOW that the moment I need it to be there, is the moment I have forgotten to manually send the document
Wondering aloud if the "versions" feature in Lion makes an appearance in iOS 5 and by connection iCloud.
I too want to see syncing of delta changes and the ability to collaborate on files with the appropriate file locking for safety. Dropbox is key in how simplistic it is ..but there are indeed ways of extending the feature-set while keeping simplicity. I hope Apple has created the magical elixir.
Really, since when?
The Keynote Remote app's been out a while. It works great!
The Keynote Remote app's been out a while. It works great!
Yes, I know -- but as the reviews report, it could only control Keynote on a Mac -- not on another iOS device. Apparently with the recent revisions to iOS Keynote, it now can. This new feature, assuming it works, seems to have flown under the radar. Fans of Keynote on the iPad have been bemoaning the lack of a remote for over a year. Even the bluetooth keyboard didn't work for this. The other question is whether Keynote Remote works with bluetooth, or still requires a wifi network.
Keynote for ipad update still wont allow for linking slides together NON SEQUENTIALLY. Its a joke. Seriously I cant figure out why apple would cripple the software like this.
I did even know what this supposedly essential feature is, so I guess I don't get the joke.
I think Apple should make really great front ends for Office docs and open docs as well as their own, as a way of enabling users that make those choices or have no choice and showing just how great the iPhone is.
Oh crap - the iTunes description just says plain text. Aagh!