iCloud not just 'a hard disk in the sky': Jobs

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 07 June 2011 11:28

Apple's forthcoming iCloud service will replace the existing MobileMe. While there are some interesting new features, questions remain about the fate of some of the existing facilities offered by Apple's online service.

There's been much speculation about Apple's forthcoming iCloud service. Now that it has been announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, the discussion can become fact based.

Jobs pointed out that Apple's 'digital hub' concept, where a Mac was used to store photos, videos and music created with or played on a variety of devices had worked well for a decade, but had "broken down in the last few years... because the devices have changed" and they now all store various types of content. "If I acquire a song... on my iPhone, I want to get that to my other devices," he said.

"Keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy," he said, but "We've got a great solution for this problem." Under the new model, the Mac becomes just another device rather than the hub, and the new hub is in the cloud.

Jobs said iCloud was more than "a hard disk in the sky" because of the way it is integrated with the applications that use it, keeping everything in sync without the user having to do anything.

"We learned a lot [from MobileMe]," admitted Jobs. The contacts, calendar and mail components of MobileMe have been completely rearchitected and rewritten, he claimed. "The truth is on the cloud."

Documents, photos and more in iCloud - see page 2.