I severely doubt that iCloud would not provide web space, since a normal website only takes 10s of Megabytes, which is nothing these days.
Granted, Apple could encourage the use of web design apps such as rapidweaver and spend its resources on more valuable things than keeping up-to-date yet another web design application. UNLESS iWeb would drastically gain features by cooperating with iCloud to implement features that are inaccessible or infeasible to the competition.
I think Apple are implementing the pure computer science version of the cloud here, i.e. just a place where you put stuff, and you don't care where it is or how it's implemented.
There's no web interface because then you would have to know a URL (a location) and you're not supposed to know that. It's just a place your apps magically know how to find at saving and loading time, and it just works.
It's only because Apple is so vertically integrated that enables them to implement the theoretical ideal cloud.
I think Apple are implementing the pure computer science version of the cloud here, i.e. just a place where you put stuff, and you don't care where it is or how it's implemented.
There's no web interface because then you would have to know a URL (a location) and you're not supposed to know that. It's just a place your apps magically know how to find at saving and loading time, and it just works.
It's only because Apple is so vertically integrated that enables them to implement the theoretical ideal cloud.
The term "cloud" is ambiguous, there is no "pure computer science version". It certainly can't be limited to a simple hard drive on the Internet.
I agree with Gruber, if anything, Apple is augmenting their cloud with better wb services, rather than abandoning it altogether. Apple is out in front of the wave to make Web 2.0 applications mature and as slick as desktop apps, and twice done it with MobileMe and iWork, which are in some ways slicker than Google's stuff.
On Apple's web page, where they are describing Lion's 250 new features, the listing "Internet Restore and Utilities" they say:
Built into Lion
OS X Lion includes a built-in restore partition, allowing you to repair or reinstall OS X without the need for discs.
Browse the web with Safari
Recovery mode now includes the Safari web browser, so you can check your email or browse the Apple Support site.
So, how are you to use Safari that's on this restore partition to check your email? Why not just use your iPhone or iPad? Because there is going to be a webmail interface for the me.com domain. My me.com email address is going to live on. So how could there not be a webmail interface for Safari to get to?
I think that we've only heard the first part of the story. This is the part about how I will access all of my own data. The next part will be about how I share some of my data with some or all other people, people who may or may not have a modern MacOS X or iOS device. In other words, the second part will be about how Apple will help me use the web to share selected portions of my iCloud data with the world at large or with a smaller subset of the population.
I don't think Apple is going to completely remove web access. They'd have to be insane not to realize that people sometimes have to access data using someone else's device.
Photo sharing is rendered virtually useless if the only people who can see the photos are those who know your Apple ID and password. Or is Apple truly saying that we all need Flickr accounts so grandma can see the kids?
I may have only logged into my MobileMe Mail/contacts/calendar on the web twice in the past year even though that is my primary email address. I have never really needed to since it is already synced to my iphone/iPad. HOWEVER, I make extensive use of my MobileMe gallery.
The streaming of photos as part of iCloud will be a great fgeature for all of my devices but I will be lost without being able to share photos via a MobileMe gallery to family and friends. I refuese to use Flickr/Facebook to share photos.
Speculative reports that Apple will throw away all of its existing web services in the transition from MobileMe to its new iCloud service appear to be reinforced by the company's job postings for iCloud web engineers, which describe web services but make little mention of web clients.
Looking for people with experience in one area does not mean that they aren't working on other stuff - especially when they already have people writing web apps and just completed a rewrite of the existing apps.
I can't see the point in rewriting the Mobile Me apps (Jobs even mentioned that in the keynote) and migrating to CalDAV while they were building a new data center for iCloud if the aren't supposed to be used for iCloud too.
Comments
Granted, Apple could encourage the use of web design apps such as rapidweaver and spend its resources on more valuable things than keeping up-to-date yet another web design application. UNLESS iWeb would drastically gain features by cooperating with iCloud to implement features that are inaccessible or infeasible to the competition.
There's no web interface because then you would have to know a URL (a location) and you're not supposed to know that. It's just a place your apps magically know how to find at saving and loading time, and it just works.
It's only because Apple is so vertically integrated that enables them to implement the theoretical ideal cloud.
I think Apple are implementing the pure computer science version of the cloud here, i.e. just a place where you put stuff, and you don't care where it is or how it's implemented.
There's no web interface because then you would have to know a URL (a location) and you're not supposed to know that. It's just a place your apps magically know how to find at saving and loading time, and it just works.
It's only because Apple is so vertically integrated that enables them to implement the theoretical ideal cloud.
The term "cloud" is ambiguous, there is no "pure computer science version". It certainly can't be limited to a simple hard drive on the Internet.
On Apple's web page, where they are describing Lion's 250 new features, the listing "Internet Restore and Utilities" they say:
Built into Lion
OS X Lion includes a built-in restore partition, allowing you to repair or reinstall OS X without the need for discs.
Browse the web with Safari
Recovery mode now includes the Safari web browser, so you can check your email or browse the Apple Support site.
So, how are you to use Safari that's on this restore partition to check your email? Why not just use your iPhone or iPad? Because there is going to be a webmail interface for the me.com domain. My me.com email address is going to live on. So how could there not be a webmail interface for Safari to get to?
Uh... wouldn't Apple already HAVE plenty of web developers for that aspect of iCloud, and only need to hire new people for the new stuff? Hello?
That's what I'm sayin'!
I don't think Apple is going to completely remove web access. They'd have to be insane not to realize that people sometimes have to access data using someone else's device.
Photo sharing is rendered virtually useless if the only people who can see the photos are those who know your Apple ID and password. Or is Apple truly saying that we all need Flickr accounts so grandma can see the kids?
I may have only logged into my MobileMe Mail/contacts/calendar on the web twice in the past year even though that is my primary email address. I have never really needed to since it is already synced to my iphone/iPad. HOWEVER, I make extensive use of my MobileMe gallery.
The streaming of photos as part of iCloud will be a great fgeature for all of my devices but I will be lost without being able to share photos via a MobileMe gallery to family and friends. I refuese to use Flickr/Facebook to share photos.
Speculative reports that Apple will throw away all of its existing web services in the transition from MobileMe to its new iCloud service appear to be reinforced by the company's job postings for iCloud web engineers, which describe web services but make little mention of web clients.
Looking for people with experience in one area does not mean that they aren't working on other stuff - especially when they already have people writing web apps and just completed a rewrite of the existing apps.
I can't see the point in rewriting the Mobile Me apps (Jobs even mentioned that in the keynote) and migrating to CalDAV while they were building a new data center for iCloud if the aren't supposed to be used for iCloud too.