iCloud: Another Killer of PC

Compared to iCloud, which can only synchronize documents of proprietary programs on Apple's own devices, most cloud synchronization services are cross-platform and compatible with various file formats. "Apple is too focused on building its own ecosystem, which is not feasible in enterprise-level applications that emphasize compatibility."

At 10 o'clock on the morning of June 6, Steve Jobs, dressed in an iconic black pullover, appeared in the center of Moscone, triggering a burst of screaming.

In the following week, the exhibition center on the northeast side of San Francisco will become a holy land for apple fans all over the world. The annual Apple Global Developers Conference (WWDC) is held here. Among them, the most remarkable one is Jobs' speech this morning.

For Apple fans, June means the launch of a new generation iPhone. Every year since 2007, there is no exception. But this year, people waiting for the iPhone5 are disappointed. As early as the end of May, Apple unveiled the contents of the event in an unusual manner: the new generation of MacOSX operating system "Lion", a new generation of iPhone/iPad operating system iOS5, and iCloud.

No iPhone5. Jobs wants to focus all his attention on Apple's new service, iCloud.

As the name suggests, this new service is related to cloud technology. With iCloud, users can sync contacts, calendars, photos, documents, music, and even application settings across devices. Moreover, these synchronization services are free. Of course, so-called "different devices" also have to be Apple's.

In the vision of Jobs, iCloud will replace the computer as a transfer station for file synchronization. When you take a picture on your iPhone, you no longer need to use a data cable to connect to your computer for transmission as before. Then you can synchronize your iPad with your computer to get photos; you don’t even need to e-mail your photos from iPhone. Go to the iPad. Just put the photo in a specific album, it will appear in the iPad and the corresponding album in the computer.

All files are not transmitted directly from the user's iPhone to the iPad, but data is transmitted through Apple’s data center in North Carolina. However, in the process of uploading and downloading data, users do not need to do anything. Apple will complete everything in the cloud.

A closed, incompatible cloud service In fact, iCloud is not as revolutionary as the iPhone and iPad. Many companies have already provided similar cloud synchronization services to ordinary consumers.

For Google, synchronization services for mail, contacts, calendars, and documents have long been known to users. Even in early 2010, Google already provided online collaborative editing of documents, allowing multiple users to simultaneously edit the same document and synchronize the results of the edits, keeping a current version. Technically, this is far advanced than Apple's.

Other cloud synchronization service providers such as Dropbox and Box. Net, etc. have also been successful. Dropbox has more than 25 million users and handles more than 200 million files a day.

Compared to iCloud, which can only synchronize documents of proprietary programs on Apple's own devices, most cloud synchronization services are cross-platform and compatible with various file formats. Box. Aron Levy, the CEO of net, pointed out iCloud's malady in the blog post. “Apple is too focused on building its own ecosystem. This is not feasible in enterprise-level applications that emphasize compatibility. Maybe iCloud will be The personal or small group of Apple products is used, but it cannot be a standard for commercial applications."

The convenience built on a mature ecosystem is just like Apple's other software and services. The iCloud's closedness is based on Apple's strong vertical integration logic. From hardware to software and even to the application store, Apple has taken control of it tightly into its own hands. This seemingly unreasonable practice has ensured the quality of the product, provided a convenient user experience, and achieved great commercial success.

In this presentation, Jobs constantly emphasizes the convenience of using iCloud. “Even without removing it from his pocket, the information will be synchronized to the device.” He said that users do not need to learn how to use iCloud, “it has been Integrate into existing applications so everything will run automatically."

Apple is not really the first company to promote cloud services among consumers, but it is the best combination of cloud synchronization services and existing products. It integrates different kinds of synchronization services. Users just need to open iCloud and do not need to make more settings.

Google’s services, although technologically advanced, cannot provide a superior user experience like Apple. Therefore, there will be fruit powder taunting Android user's hobby is "Brush, restart, change the battery." Just use it. The convenient user experience provided by Apple is exactly what it takes.

The services provided by Apple itself may not be able to meet the consumer's requirements in breadth, but the ecosystem it has established maintains a moderate degree of openness in the closed period, avoiding the embarrassing situation of stagnant water. Just as its iOS platform has achieved the App Store, iCloud has also opened up background extensions for programmers, allowing them to use their creativity to integrate the cloud synchronization platform provided by Apple into various types of applications. This small opening has greatly enriched iCloud's possibilities.

ICloud, an important part of the post-PC era, is not just a newly launched service. It is also an important part of Apple's "post-PC era" strategy.

Three months ago, at the presentation of the iPad2, Steve Jobs introduced his own view of the "post-PC era": hardware and software must be seamlessly combined to make the post-PC era device easier to operate. At the time, he couldn't avoid the necessity of a computer—each iPhone or iPad reminded users to activate via iTunes when they first used it.

Now, with the help of iCloud, Jobs can finally bypass this hurdle. He is not only declaring war on computers with Windows systems in Apple's "Mac to PC" adverts, but also subverting the dominance of Macintosh computers. As his slide shows, the status of computers over mobile phones and tablets has been replaced by cloud services.

The cloud service also satisfies the requirements of "only mobile devices" and "multiple mobile devices". After all, Apple is still a company that makes hardware fortunes. Of course there are many problems. For example, if the size of the backup file is too large, iCloud's first backup will take two or three hours even in a broadband network environment. For example, whether the user information will be stolen and the privacy of the user can be protected. .