iCloud opt out?

[BasilFawlty]

I'm relatively new to MACs. My wife has had one for a year, and I just recently bought a 27" iMac. Ok, so I understand (I think( that with iCloud all my music and photos will be stored outside of my own computer and "pushed" to me for sync? I do not want my music or photos on some "cloud" outside of my iMac, so can I still use iTunes to manage and sync my music, etc, or will I be forced to use this cloud stuff? I know my mobile me account will go away after Jun 2012, and I don't mind giving up my .me account, but will I have to use iCloud for my pictures and music?

 

[sth]

iCloud is optional (opt-in).

 

[adwebinc]

iCloud is optional (opt-in).

And you can still keep you .me addresses.

 

[BasilFawlty]

And you can still keep you .me addresses.

But that's only if I "opt in" right?

 

[panzer06]

But that's only if I "opt in" right?

Storing your music, pics, etc in the "cloud" and keeping your .me email address are mutually exclusive events. You can keep the email address and choose not to store your data online.

Cheers,

 

[BasilFawlty]

Storing your music, pics, etc in the "cloud" and keeping your .me email address are mutually exclusive events. You can keep the email address and choose not to store your data online.

Cheers,

That's good because I don't want to store ANYTHING on Mr Jobs' "cloud."

 

[DisMyMac]

That's good because I don't want to store ANYTHING on Mr Jobs' "cloud."

I too hate the concept philosophically (not so much practically) because I see broad dangers to our rights and humanity on the horizon. iCloud is fine now, but where is this all leading?

 

[sth]

I too hate the concept philosophically (not so much practically) because I see broad dangers to our rights and humanity on the horizon. iCloud is fine now, but where is this all leading?

True, although iCloud seems to be more about syncing data between your devices and less about about storage, even though the main copy still resides on the server. Compare that to Google's approach of only having the data on their servers without ever having a local copy (Chromebook etc.).

Still, privacy is a big concern for both. I actually trust Apple a bit more than Google when it comes to that. For Apple, I am the customer and iCloud is just another feature intended to keep me buying their devices – screwing with my data would be counterproductive for them. For Google on the other hand, I am the product they're selling to advertisers.

On the other hand, even if none of the companies themselves would screw with your personal data, there's still a chance of external attackers trying to get hold of it. And recent history shows that no company, no matter how big, is immune to that.

 

[0dev]

You're wise for not wanting your data on some server. LulzSec would make a day of it for sure, and both of Apple and Google need market research, don't they? Where better to get that than the entire contents of your hard drive?

In response to sth, though, I'd actually trust Google more. They seem to actually care about security and getting people to trust them with their data is a major point of their business. Apple, on the other hand, sells hardware as a main business, and therefore is less likely to take care of the cloud system which is only a small part of their overall operations.

Not to mention that Google has privacy regulators from the US and EU all over their back right now and a data leak is the last thing they need.

But yeah, when it comes to storing everything on my computer, I ain't putting that level of data on any server, no matter who runs it.

 

[paulsalter]

I dont mind storing things on the cloud, but I want to be able to pick and choose (like galleries and iDisk on MobileMe), not just have all my documents and images stored there for syncing

from what I have seen from screenshots, I will just disable everything except calendar and contact syncing

i dont need the rest, this new iCloud is not an improvement over MM, IMO

 

[sth]

In response to sth, though, I'd actually trust Google more. They seem to actually care about security and getting people to trust them with their data is a major point of their business. Apple, on the other hand, sells hardware as a main business, and therefore is less likely to take care of the cloud system which is only a small part of their overall operations.

Not to mention that Google has privacy regulators from the US and EU all over their back right now and a data leak is the last thing they need.

I agree that Google has far more experience when it comes to securing a web service. This is one of my biggest worries so far – Apple has never done anything on such a large scale.

 

[0dev]

I agree that Google has far more experience when it comes to securing a web service. This is one of my biggest worries so far – Apple has never done anything on such a large scale.

Exactly.

If I'd trust anyone with my data, it'd be Google. Apple make nice products but why should I trust them with personal information? Let's just see how they do.

As a general policy, though, I don't put information about myself online unless I need to, and that includes personal files.