A clouded perspective

[Adamsappel]

The move into iCloud is premature. This is why:


There are over 7 billion people upon earth.
Just over 2,4 billion have internet.
Of that 2,4 billion, about a third have broadband access. The others are on tediously slow and impractical GPRS/Edge.
Way less than a billion have reliable, uninterrupted services at affordable prices.
Cloud-based computing in general is therefore not widespread.

Apple has a small global footprint yet a fair share of its user base are located in regions without practical broadband connectiviity. We bought Apple for its local sync, especially via tethering.

In global terms, iCloud users are by far a minority. If you live away from the USA, you soon realise how fragile and compromised the Intetnet is. Natural disasters, power outages, accidents and even terrorism/sabotage can and do interrupt connectivity. This post will travel 23,140km via a detoured undersea cable so that it can be saved on Apple's servers. It goes from the tip of Africa along the west coast up to the UK and from there across the Atlantic to the USA. The cables get severed and on our harbour there are two ships that have the immense task of maintaining these cables.

My USB cable is two feet long and works better and is not exposed to risk.

 

[maflynn]

So are you suggesting apple wait until all 7 billion people get fast/reliable internet access ?

I think your supposition is wrong, you're suggesting apple wait on embracing newer technology until the majority of the world can benefit, is flawed. If that was the case Google, and MS should do the same, i.e., stop improving their services and products.

If you don't live an in area that has fast internet then use the USB, no reason why those of us who do have fast/reliable internet should not take advantage of the cloud.

 

[Adamsappel]

I never said that. It does stand to reason, though, that we will need alternatives until the globe is ready. Cloud-only simply cannot work.

You cannot drive on a road before it is built.

When I can use iCloud, I simply love it. We are jealous of regions such as New European Union that has higher than 90% while we have less than 5%. Good news is that fibre backbone is being installed across the populated areas on my continent and from that, either 4G or WiFi will be redistributed. Ten years from now, cloud computing should be commonplace on global terms.

 

[maflynn]

You actually implied that because you're stating that its roll out is premature given the statistics you provided.

There are alternatives already available, though not every cloud feature will have a non-cloud counterpart. That's just the nature of technology as it moves forward. I'm not trying to sound harsh, as I can empathize to those who live in areas that do not have broadband.

I don't think apple is looking to invest heavily in products and services in parts of the world that does not have the infrastructure to support it, so they focus on where they will gain the most bang for their buck. That means they' re focusing more heavily on customers who live in the US and Europe, i.e., parts of the world where the infrastructure can support apple's products/services.

 

[Adamsappel]

For a very short period, there were no Apple-based alternatives. Luckily Apple decided to come to the resque.

I posted this so that people all over can get the bigger picture and see that their are other realities outside of their own confines.

We as humans globally need to fo commerce, educate, travel, etc. Economies can fail if we exclude access to either markets or resources if we do not understand how global communications work in practice.

Data integrity needs to be preserved when we change systems and not cripple the effort.

Generally, I find that my point is not being understood. It shows that education is needed to change perceptions.

 

[Adamsappel]

You actually implied that because you're stating that its roll out is premature given the statistics you provided.

There are alternatives already available, though not every cloud feature will have a non-cloud counterpart. That's just the nature of technology as it moves forward. I'm not trying to sound harsh, as I can empathize to those who live in areas that do not have broadband.

I don't think apple is looking to invest heavily in products and services in parts of the world that does not have the infrastructure to support it, so they focus on where they will gain the most bang for their buck. That means they' re focusing more heavily on customers who live in the US and Europe, i.e., parts of the world where the infrastructure can support apple's products/services.

Perhaps both Apple and Microsoft do not realise that the world out there is dependent upon them. The world I know better is one called Linux, where local sync virtually never even existed. Where/when it did, it was deficient.

We all need to adapt to thinking globally and also realise that revenues can increase when we see opportunities beyond meeting our own needs.


Apple should not be selling to markets it cannot sustain through its services and the same applies to Microsoft.

 

[impaler]

The OP is a bizarre post, full of half-truths and difficult to follow, logic wise. I could counter nearly every point in there, but others already have. I'll add only one thing:

Rumors are with iTunes 11.1.6, they will re-add local-based syncing of iOS devices, via local tethering. They never should've removed it.

 

[Adamsappel]

The OP is a bizarre post, full of half-truths and difficult to follow, logic wise. I could counter nearly every point in there, but others already have. I'll add only one thing:

Rumors are with iTunes 11.1.6, they will re-add local-based syncing of iOS devices, via local tethering. They never should've removed it.

It is a simple, non-technical post that states the very basics.

In a nutshell: there are 7,017 billion people upon earth of whom about a third have internet. Of that third, about 20% or one out of every five enjoy fast, reliable and also affordable broadband. It means that only 20% of 34% of 7 billion can actually safely use cloud services.

Cloud computing is second nature to some and a pipe dream to most. I really don't understand what is so hard to grasp here.

For a start, get some interesting information at http://www.internetworldstats.com

And some power their computers in interesting ways. http://www.resilience.org/stories/2...factories-forgotten-future-stationary-bicycle

OK, the world of political and corporate governance enjoys a developed infrastructure yet we have had load shedding in 2008 and again a week or two ago, when even "first world" suburbs went without electricity. Show me why it is better to sync through the cloud while a) internet connectivity is unreliable and b) electricity power supply is unstable. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/LIVE-UPDATES-Eskom-load-shedding-20140306

And that applies to a few billion users out there. All of the world does not function in the same way as US, Europe or South Korea.

Then, also realise that even here in South Africa, we have seen a few instances over the past year where the national internet traffic almost came to a standstill and connections timed out for days on end. Especially when someone in the Med off the coast of Egypt severed a submarine cable. Google this phenomenon as other countries suffer the same fate.

On this very Sunday, I have spent all my time trying to resolve Calendar sync issues via iCloud. See, I was using iCloud myself but found this morning that it can and does break itself overnight.

That USB cable once again saved the day!

 

[unplugme71]

You actually implied that because you're stating that its roll out is premature given the statistics you provided.

There are alternatives already available, though not every cloud feature will have a non-cloud counterpart. That's just the nature of technology as it moves forward. I'm not trying to sound harsh, as I can empathize to those who live in areas that do not have broadband.

I don't think apple is looking to invest heavily in products and services in parts of the world that does not have the infrastructure to support it, so they focus on where they will gain the most bang for their buck. That means they' re focusing more heavily on customers who live in the US and Europe, i.e., parts of the world where the infrastructure can support apple's products/services.

Thing is, many of us without broadband would be more than willing to pay for it. However, when each house is 500-1000 feet apart, it ends up costing the provider a lot. They rather provide broadband in denser populations where homes are only 5-10 feet apart.

Living out in the midwest, I do have broadband, but I was looking to moving 15 minutes out of the city. All we get here is rural water, septic, and satellite Internet option that's very expensive and limits you to 50GB per month for $100 or more.

When I met with a TWC rep, I offered to pay up to $1000 to run wiring and a service contract of 5 years at 50Mbps, they declined. It was just under 1 mile of cabling that was needed on a straight road. I could literally run it myself. My 3 neighbors were willing to sign up and that would only add 1500 feet extra wiring. So that's 4 customers willing to pay $100-150/mo for 5 years and $1000 upfront cash for installation. They said the installation would cost upwards of $20,000 - bull ****.

 

[Adamsappel]

I just hope that everybody pushing the cloud envelope is reading your post as well. We really need to have non-cloud alternatives bundled with our Apple products.

It is a simple, non-technical post that states the very basics.

In a nutshell: there are 7,017 billion people upon earth of whom about a third have internet. Of that third, about 20% or one out of every five enjoy fast, reliable and also affordable broadband. It means that only 20% of 34% of 7 billion can actually safely use cloud services.

Cloud computing is second nature to some and a pipe dream to most. I really don't understand what is so hard to grasp here.

For a start, get some interesting information at http://www.internetworldstats.com

And some power their computers in interesting ways. http://www.resilience.org/stories/2...factories-forgotten-future-stationary-bicycle

OK, the world of political and corporate governance enjoys a developed infrastructure yet we have had load shedding in 2008 and again a week or two ago, when even "first world" suburbs went without electricity. Show me why it is better to sync through the cloud while a) internet connectivity is unreliable and b) electricity power supply is unstable. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/LIVE-UPDATES-Eskom-load-shedding-20140306

And that applies to a few billion users out there. All of the world does not function in the same way as US, Europe or South Korea.

Then, also realise that even here in South Africa, we have seen a few instances over the past year where the national internet traffic almost came to a standstill and connections timed out for days on end. Especially when someone in the Med off the coast of Egypt severed a submarine cable. Google this phenomenon as other countries suffer the same fate.

On this very Sunday, I have spent all my time trying to resolve Calendar sync issues via iCloud. See, I was using iCloud myself but found this morning that it can and does break itself overnight.

That USB cable once again saved the day!

South Korea is said to host the world's fastest supercomputer and that their broadband was the fastest of all nations, followef by US & Europe. The rest of the world generally lags behind but the pronlem is that policy makers and systems architects operate on those fortunate regions/countries. Therefore, they invent systems that work well in ideal situations but fail elsewhere. My post is an effort to allow the reader to understand why iCloud amongst Apple users globally is only relevant to a small-ish group of users. I repeat: local sync is why we bought Apple and local sync is why we are prepared to live in austerity so that we can afford Apple, which costs up to 55% more here than on the USA.

Taking away local sync is deleting the motivation to use Apple. If Apple is OK with losing the sales of many millions of units annually, so be it.

 

[Adamsappel]

You actually implied that because you're stating that its roll out is premature given the statistics you provided.

There are alternatives already available, though not every cloud feature will have a non-cloud counterpart. That's just the nature of technology as it moves forward. I'm not trying to sound harsh, as I can empathize to those who live in areas that do not have broadband.

I don't think apple is looking to invest heavily in products and services in parts of the world that does not have the infrastructure to support it, so they focus on where they will gain the most bang for their buck. That means they' re focusing more heavily on customers who live in the US and Europe, i.e., parts of the world where the infrastructure can support apple's products/services.

There are no universally available alternatives, contrary to your belief. Do a search on the internet and see how many users complain about this very same thing.

Anyone believing that the iCloud is a practical solutipn to a few billion badly connected users in different global regions, need to at the very least study the world internet stats. It does not end there, though, as many times the connectivity is so bad that it can be compared with roads full of potholes, partially washed away, and single lanes with tedious stop/go zones to sort of allow bi-directional traffic.

To think that the world is effectively interconnect suffiently to allow for cloud computing in general, is very wrong. Practical realities prove the exact opposite. It would be in the very best interest of the global community to ensure that devices and system can interconnect without the need of having to spend a fortune on third party solutions.

Apple also could not do an update without breaking what worked well before. https://discussions.apple.com/message/24219201#24219201. I myself had to spend my Sunday returning to local sync after iCloud presented with errors of its own. USB just works better so why remove it?