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Apple Creating Cloud-Based Mac?
hostedftp writes "In speculation news making the rounds — Apple's recent activities in the Cloud has been leading to conclusions of the what the innovative giant plans to unleash in 2011. The most recent news of Apple applying and securing a patent for a network-boosted OS has made speculators believe Apple is going to launch a Cloud-based operating system for the Mac."
idevices are 2/3 of apple's revenue. Mac's are like the bastard step kids that no one cares about anymore
Commentators believe the patent could allow Apple to create a subscription-based cloud OS that gives it more control over its users.
More control over its users.
On top of that, this whole cloud privacy relationship concept needs to be addressed -- especially when people see commercials advocating it without fully explaining that your photo, data, computations, whatever are being moved to and performed on other machine external to yours. That single Microsoft commercial has further muddied up how people understand what the cloud is.
I applaud Apple for their foresight and innovation in this but I see it in line with Tim Wu's fears of Apple further controlling your data and information. I'd have the same fears with Chrome OS and Windows utilizing a cloud of computers just the same. This ideal of executing what you want on your hardware in your property seems to be dying. And with it, privacy or any desire thereof.
My work here is dung.
Since the blog talking about the cloud has seemingly dissipated, I have to wonder what a "Cloud Based OS" even would mean, if that's even a thing.
To put things in more practical and less obscure speech, I think what it means is that something very like Dropbox will be more integrated into the system - and that possibly Apple will offer something like network based backup of application data for iOS devices.
To me the "cloud" of any value, basically ends up being network storage of some flavor.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It reminds me of an old (and unintentionally hilarious) Crucial memory ad: "Your computer...at Internet speed!"
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
It is the dream of all software companies to get products that generate recurring revenue indefinitely. Looks like this might fit that bill.
I'm going to name my next child "Cloudy McCloudster" ... come to think of it I better go register that domain right now.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
Is it`cuz I`m not on a Mac.
Sorry guys, the URL for the link to the Tim Wu story is Apple the No. 1 Danger To Net Freedom.
iCloudOS
Features include -
. Everything is rented. Why get fleeced once when you can get fleeced monthly. Yes its crazy but aren't fleeces warm and fluffy like how you feel buying Apple products. You get regular updates on all your software like before but now you're paying. You get go keep paying to access the media you used to own. And the best thing is that even if you dont upgrade your iAppliances regularly you still get to keep paying.
. iAppliance based. Run your iApp (be it movie player, image editor, skype or game) on any of your iPad/iPod/iPhone/iMac/iMini/iWhatever. Talk on your iPhone then when you get to work it shifts to your iMac. Play an iGame iApp on your iPad and when you get home shift it to your 42" iTV iAppliance.
. Safety. Our walled garden is totally secure. All your interactions are done through iApps.
. Legacy. If you really must access that dirty web with all its flash we route all your traffic through our content network. We filter it for all that bad stuff like porn, bittorrent and independent thought.
Admittedly the iAppliance bit is nice but mine is Ubuntu/Android based.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
Has anyone talked to Adrian Paul?
We're on our way to a Clan Cloud.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Since the blog talking about the cloud has seemingly dissipated, I have to wonder what a "Cloud Based OS" even would mean, if that's even a thing.
Yeah, it sounds really nebulous.
Are you adequate?
Are we reaching Peak Cloud?
We used to call them X-terminals.
Diskless, boots off the network and connects to a central machine. In this case, the "central" is "distributed", and it may or may not have a disk.
In short, the finest technology from the 80s is back. :-P
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
This ideal of executing what you want on your hardware in your property seems to be dying.
It's not dying, and will never die.
What is happening instead is that consumer choices are EXPANDING. Expanding to included choices where they really can have computers that are more secure and managed - as a side effect, they are also locked down. But it is a choice that I think is good for people to have, because most people simply cannot manage computers.
On the Mac, soon, you'll have a choice to get applications from anywhere - or to get them from a central source that is somewhat vetted, and furthermore ends the hodge-podge of software update mechanisms to one where you get updates when they arrive without fuss. That's a huge boon to most people.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple Patent Hints at Net-Booting Cloud Strategy - About 16 hours ago.
If you ask Apple really nicely, they'll let you boot it up.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
I'm assuming the core files for the OS would still be installed locally on your HDD to begin with. Then you just download updates, sync your data, and the rest of the bandwidth is comparable to a standard VNC session. Really, the bandwidth would be comparable to many current users.
This retains the advantages of a Chrome netbook (all your data is always magically online and available from all devices without having to worry about backups), and in theory would allow for the installation of proper apps. Add to that Mac styling, and most users won't care about the walled garden even if geeks will be furious.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
We used to call them X-terminals.
Diskless, boots off the network and connects to a central machine. In this case, the "central" is "distributed", and it may or may not have a disk.
In short, the finest technology from the 80s is back. :-P
We called them 3270 terminals. Connect to a local cluster controller(more or less a stat mux, not a heck of a lot more), then to a NCP, then via VTAM back to the mainframe, probably a system 370 series although memory fades with time. Oddly enough that is exactly the same config I had in the mid 90s except they emulated the 3270 on PCs, mostly.
In short, the finest technology from the 70s is back :-P
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Obviously, they need a bigger cloud.
sudo eat my shorts
But look at the Graphics of Tron Legacy!
Oh - sorry - you meant Apple's equally slick graphics!
Just don't think too hard what it all means.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Slashdot has not hand an Apple or cloud article in ages.
Their they're doing there hair.
For company use I can see some benefit.
For home consumer use, I can't see the return a user gets for relying on something like this. Especially not as people move to laptops which are not connected all the time. Sure you can cache for there's nothing more obnoxious than having MOST applications cached only to find the one you really wanted to use, was not cached just as you are getting into your international plane flight...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Yes and expect clouds to be pushed very hard by all those who want to control what you see, hear or write on the web.
The only the will ever be able to control what you do, is by using central repository & computing power.
I don't have an intelligent phone, so I need to be.
What is happening instead is that consumer choices are EXPANDING.
I liken it to Facebook's many privacy debacles. First let me explain how Facebook -- and I really think this is all Zuckerberg -- works. They want to increase information flow on Facebook. Even private information. But they realize that if they give the user a choice nobody's going to 'take the plunge' and the feature will largely be left as opt-in but never used. So they make it automatic and they deal with the privacy issue after it's been activated across the board. They put on a show about how they hear the users and now you have an option to disable that but it's not disabled because people have been living with it for a couple weeks and by and large nothing seriously bad has happened -- yet. A good example is the news feed debacle that caused users outrage and protests. But now everyone uses it. How did that happen? More importantly: could it have happened at all had not Zuckerberg stood up and made a decision for hundreds of millions of users? I think that answer is "no."
When I see the Windows commercial, I don't see an option. I see a feature. I see a feature like Facebook's News Feed. It's being marketed as a feature of Windows 7. The woman is using Windows 7 and then she says "To the cloud" real James Bond like and suddenly we're "in the cloud." And that's Windows 7. People then want that. There's no "I just need to upload my photo to Google's Picassa" or any sort of steps warning the user what exactly is happening in the background. No, it's all streamlined feature rich marketing crap. Are they explaining this can be disabled? No, we'll do that later. Where's my data? Who cares? You're in the cloud, you're sexy, you're hip -- privacy is old school for the squares!
On the Mac, soon, you'll have a choice to get applications from anywhere - or to get them from a central source that is somewhat vetted, and furthermore ends the hodge-podge of software update mechanisms to one where you get updates when they arrive without fuss. That's a huge boon to most people.
Okay but this isn't the cloud, this is just a really streamlined distribution service. Am I the only person that wants to have two columns for the Pros and Cons of using a cloud based service as the basis of your home operating system!?
My work here is dung.
ISP caps and slow down speeds will NOT work this.
A 1920 x 1200 desktop at 32 bits a lot of data.
In some area all you can get is DSL any where from 1.5 to 6 meg max. maybe 6 meg will work ok but some people can only get 1.5 or 3 meg dsl.
Cable has higher download speeds but a full block on a Node trying to use this at the same time.
satellite broadband with the FAP does not kill this the lag will.
3G 5GB cap will led to big costs for data over 5GB. And ATT's 2GB then $10 per GB will may this cost so much people will get a PC.
And if you have 2-3 systems then you may need FIOS just make it work good. And Fios is not all over.
Always fun seeing the new guys complain it could never work, even when I was doing it in the 90s with xwindows / nfs / vnc over a 14.4 modem ... and liking it ...
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Hasn't everyone been trying to guess what the big data center they are building is for? Well, this could be the answer you're looking for... TFTP booting has been around since the days of Xterms, maybe even before then.
It makes perfect sense for user-recovery as well. Imagine this: You've dropped your macbook, and now it won't boot from the HD, but can automatically default to net-booting into a utility that will attempt to repair the HD. It will also allow you to boot into a stripped down OS that allows you to copy all your important files to a USB stick or maybe to a ".mac" cloud destination.
The current Macbook Air doesn't eve have a HD -- it uses flash. Just imagine how much thinner they'll be able to make that computer if all it is, is a screen, keyboard and some wireless networking. Then it really will be a Macbook "Air" -- the whole machine becomes a true "netbook" in that it boots and runs from the internet.
Just wait until Apple figures out how to power it from the network as well. No batteries needed.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
I'm starting to see a few user advantages to this approach- more or less. Theoretically, everything would be on-demand. So, every application would be instantly updatable, and trying new apps could be simpler, too. But it comes attached to a devil's bargain.
On the positive side, it would give developers a much better way to control their content and derive revenue from it. On the negative side, however, it would give developers a much better way to control their content and derive revenue from it. Since most of us are both, we probably experience some degree of ambivalence here.
That depends how you choose to implement it. Streaming is likely to be one of the least efficient ways of doing that. It's more likely that rather than streaming the desktop, all you'd be streaming would be the commands, mouse events and the results. Allowing the local client to do the actual rendering. Which for things other than games and such would be a lot faster.
An Apple computer for your TV. Only 99$USD.
Before anyone points to previous failed attempts, remember that televisions weren't the HD displays they are today.
And before anyone else points that HD TVs aren't anywhere near the resolution of current computer displays, they're still higher resolution than what we used to have and higher than the iPhone 4 or iPad.
iChromeOS
*laugh* Why, yes. Now someone will likely point out that back in the 60s they had this as well.
That, or that they didn't have terminals in the 60s, and they had to toggle in the boot sequence on the front of the machine before they could even begin to start feeding the punch cards. Up hill, both ways. In the dark. And they had to get their own firewood to fire up the tape drives. ;-)
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
ISP caps and slow down speeds will NOT work this.
A 1920 x 1200 desktop at 32 bits a lot of data.
So? I'd imagine that the local computer would still generate the data for that and send it to the monitor in a cloud-based OS, just like in, say, Google Chrome OS, another cloud-based OS.
Nah, dumb clients won't come back soon. What I can imagine, though, is an OS where your disk image resides on a server somewhere, at your local client just caches it. You could argue that's not much different than, say, linux today, since almost all software originates from the network anyways. But using a caching infrastructure would create a presumption that the device software is updated every time at boot.
In the 80's and 90's, Xerox used to call that ubiquitous computing [wikipedia.org]. And, it's actually a cool idea if it ever happens.
It is a cool idea but I just dont agree with it being cloud based. I'd rather have my own hub at home so I get to control my media and data. I'd only use cloud for off-site backups.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
That data center is for a revamp of Mobileme(a product that should be free),
Why should a company provide something to you for free? I prefer paying and getting no ads to free-but-ad-inundated services.
I, for one, do NOT welcome our cloud-based overlords.
if ($question !~ m/bb|[^b]{2}/i) { die(); }
Not that refusing to support a quasi-criminal organization is a good indicator, but when exactly did they start being trustworthy?
And, really, only if it was heavily encrypted.
Under the Patriot act, they can basically force US owned companies to hand over anything they like. As a result, companies here in Canada often can't use something hosted in the US (or owned by a US company) as it basically violates our legal protections. Nothing from the Federal government can go there, and likely some kinds of business run risks.
If you put data into the cloud, you lose control over who has access to it -- especially with multi-national companies being involved. If your data lands in a place where the government has given themselves ready access, there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Companies putting data into the cloud do so at some risk.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FepgxmNDuZ4
Mac Cloud. It don't take no guff.
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
The same story was posted last night @ 8:20 PM EST- http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/01/05/0035206/Apple-Patent-Hints-at-Net-Booting-Cloud-Strategy
You can netboot macs right now in a corporate or educational environment with the right server setup.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Same thing with the provinces. Microsoft keeps asking us to try their cloud stuff, and we can't find something that we can legally put there due to poor US laws.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
Occasionally, wolves will get in.
rotfl. that has to be one of the most entertaining analogies I've read in quite awhile.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
This looks like it could be a move to allow people to purchase an appliance that would connect to an Virtual Desktop environment. Similar to what we're seeing in the enterprise space with Wyse, Citrix, VmWare etc... whereby the user has a 'dumb terminal' at their desk and their OS is actually running on a VM in the datacenter. This significantly cuts down the costs especially with those that don't need the mobility of a laptop or specialized hardware at the desktop (graphics designers come to mind). But if you're doing Outlook/IE/Office or even if you're a programmer (VI/EMACS etc...) there's no reason your entire environment couldn't be hosted in the datacenter.
Off-site cloud backups would be great for media, game scores & settings but obviously not anything private.
Cue the re-opening of SeaLand as an off-site data store until the next 'fire'.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
You were not running a modern Mac OS X desktop with millions of colors @ 1200 x 800 (or larger) resolution and antialiasing, doing animated GUI transitions over a 14.4 kbps modem in the 90s.
Apple: Charging even more, for even less, since 1984.
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
Until the media companies decide that constitutes copyright infringement. :(
You know, no matter what the SeaLand people say, if they ever became pesky enough they would discover they have nowhere near the autonomy or legal protections they claim. It just doesn't work that way.
Absolutely no sovereign state recognizes them. If push came to shove, they're going to get stepped on like a bug.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
How about if I point out that an iPhone 4 (or any equivalent smart phone... it's just quick and easy to look up the iPhone specs) has approximately half the resolution of an HDTV in approximately 1/10th to 1/15th the size. Therefore making the picture approximately 1/5th to 1/8th richer. Most computer monitors also have significantly higher pixels per inch that an HDTV even at similar resolutions (though not quite as exaggerated as a phone screen). Resolution in and of itself doesn't tell you how good your picture quality will be. Blow 1080p up to the size of a movie theater screen and it'll look awful. Shrink 980x640 down to the size of an iPhone screen and it's gorgeous (though it looks blocky and poor on even an smaller computer monitor). A 1080p display at 52 inches is more than fine for video, but I don't know that I'd want to read any great amount of text on it.
To be fair I've never really tried, it might be fine, but I suspect current HDTV's are to low a resolution for their size to make effective monitors.
I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
This is why marijuana is bad for you. It allows people to come up with even more stupid thoughts than they can do on their own without the use of mind altering drugs.
You mean like a "cloud based OS"? That stupid thought comes from ignorance, not drugs. With marijuana you rarely get stupid engineering ideas, you usually get artistic or musical ideas.
Free Martian Whores!
Now all restaurants are Taco Bell.
I drank what? -- Socrates
Until the media companies decide that constitutes copyright infringement. :(
As its only a backup I'm more than happy to run it through PGP/TrueCrypt a few times first. If they want to go through the trouble of trying to access my encrypted data I'd even help by telling them one character from one of the passwords.
I agree with you about SeaLand but it wont stop someone trying. I just hope a few companies will do it competently in a country that respects privacy.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
Stop looking at the raw numbers and read my post again. Maybe you're too young to remember, but computers used to be 640x480 and even lower when people first started using windowed operating systems.
And if you see the pixels in your 52" display it's because you're sitting way too close to it. Ever seen the interface from the new AppleTV?
Encrypting your data on the cloud is pretty much a pipe dream in most circumstances. The whole idea of "Cloud Computing" is that you have your data worked on off site and it's not possible to do much processing on raw encrypted data. It's likely you will have to use Apple's CA to encrypt your data and it will be encrypted as far as others on the same "Cloud/process" see it but if anyone with a lawyer came knocking they would pony up the keys right quick. Never mind this opens up a rich playing field for black hats as far as escaping VM's go. Now you know for sure your data will be rubbing elbows with high profile data and if you can exploit that in any way you can have access to the whole bit farm, now that will be a big incentive. Why just hack grandmas computer or maybe get into one company's system when you can grab hundreds or thousands at once?
A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
Maybe they can call the cloud piece OS CCCLXX.
In the 80's and 90's, Xerox used to call that ubiquitous computing [wikipedia.org]. And, it's actually a cool idea if it ever happens.
Is this the same thing of the older Oracle Network Computer hype?
I don't why this idea is always been revived in a way or another as the time goes.
English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
Oh no, I'm quite old enough to remember. I also remember the headaches from trying to read long documents on those screens. Even back then we knew that the resolution and screen size weren't ideal to the task at hand, it was just the best we had or could afford. That's no longer the case. There's a reason it's taken this long for e-books to really take off. Until recently it's been phenomenally uncomfortable to read a book length work on a computer screen.
I can read stuff on my HDTV just fine and I don't *really* consciously see the pixels, but I'm also not trying to read, say, a 350 comment Slashdot article on my TV. I'm scrolling through menus, and those menus rather deliberately have a fairly large typeface. Very occasionally I might be forced to read an entire screenful or two worth of text, but that's about the extent of it. Much like I could easily and comfortably read several pages worth of information on my 640x480 monitor, but usually started to get a headache after reading on it for a couple hours or more.
You're talking about making the TV a monitor for a general use computer. Something I might easily spend several hours working or playing on. I don't know that a 52 inch TV at 1080p will be comfortable for that, though again I've never tried and could be wrong.
I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
Microsoft to steal this ?, they where earlier on cloud software, earlier with virtualization, and i advised them to use a online store with windows 98.
For years you have been able to buy 3th party software through their channels; but they never named it app store acka app shop.
The reason for this is there are many others who develop for Microsoft in fact everyone is free to create whatever they want; from porn games to autocad.
But those developers are never bound to Microosft alone they are free to run their own sites. (but you see Microsoft helping many startup companies).
Before you think the ipad is new... i dont see why. /video devices.
maybe i'm a power user and demand a bit more from a touch screen netbook then a ipad can deliver (i'm running vmware here on a touchscreen netbook....)
While i still am able to convert my own CD's to MP3 and use them on every device i have.. it is wonderfull magic.. its just different.
I'm less about the outside looks rather about inside performance; the kind of guy that does pay a bit more to get cowon audio
And no I dont even call it luxery or trendy, no it's simple quality, and freedom to exchange my music.
Like there are script kiddies using ipad and hackers who re-design their netbooks; and dont even want to be cool because of a cheap gadget..hilarious isnt it :)
Sometimes I wonder if homomorphic encryption could change this landscape, allowing the processing of data in a third party site but allowing the data owner to keep it's privacy.
English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
Would 2013 finally be the Year of the Linux Desktop if that's the only version that doesn't go Subscription?
I think we'd be due also for an XP-User zombie rebellion if Windows 9 tried to go Cloud/Azure only.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Who in their right mind would want to net-boot even a portion of the OS now that solid state drives are affordable?
War as we knew it was obsolete
Nothing could beat complete denial
- Emily Haines
It's not practical for the way companies want you to use the cloud (ie as an essentially seamless piece of your work flow), but if you're just using the cloud as an off site backup it's pretty trivial to encrypt the data before it leave your system. You'd have to pull it back and decrypt it to actually use it, but while it's in the cloud it's just an encrypted blob. It'd be inconvenient as hell for actual work documents, but fine for a backup.
Personally I keep a number of files with no real private data on my Dropbox in a normal unencrypted form so I can grab them if I need them (things like my resume, some spreadsheets I use to model my WoW character, a copy of my insurance card (becasue I ALWAYS forget to print the damned things and put them in my glove box), etc. I also have an encrypted blob that contain some stuff that I want to make sure I don't lose, but which contains more personal information ( a copy of my DD-214 which has my social on it, some bank stuff, scanned copies of mortgage stuff, etc). If I ever want to actually USE any of that I'll have to download it and decrypt it first, but I have it and it's fairly safe. Since I also keep local copies and a local backup If Dropbox ever fails I'll just find a new provider.
I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
But they already have a Dropbox-like service - iDisk. It's not as good as Dropbox, but it's pretty Dropbox-like.
I'm not sure how much more integrated it could get. iDisks mount up just like local disks. MobileMe mail is integrated w/ Mail.app. Galleries goes hand-in-hand w/ iPhoto. Etc.
I'm with you on this one. I'm on a FiOS connection, and I still wouldn't want to have to pull major parts of my OS and/or applications over the "wire" every time I booted up. That's nuts.
It'll be one data store with your info, email, apps, documents, etc. The iPad will present one interface, the iPhone another, the laptop yet another. All the same "computer" data and settings.
. Safety. Our walled garden is totally secure. All your interactions are done through iApps.
Huh? How can that be? Apple cannot possibly review and rigorously test every line of code to be vulnerability and malicious behaviour free. Considering it's rather trivial to hide malicious code in place sight, or introduce a deliberate coding mistake. They could only ever catch very obvious malicious behaviour and only if that emerges while in testing considering the logisitical impossiblity of Apple to thoroughly test the hundreds of thousands of App submissions, therefore it's safe to assume they've only done the most obvious and basic testing. They are also extremely tight lipped about their testing process.
That is of course, if the walled garden is about our safety at all.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
The "why" is simple. Every software, data handling and network service provider knows that business depends on its data. At the moment, most business controls their own data. What they want is to take control of your data and then make you pay for the privilege.
The Federal Reserve scheme was presented to the US government several times before they finally bought into it... and now the government isn't in control of the money any longer. See how much better things are now that we can have a humongous federal deficit instead of only spending what we have?
I'm sure it will keep getting revived until we actually reach the point where we have it. It seems like a good idea and is probably inevitable to some extent. I take it you disagree?
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
See http://xkcd.com/743/ ...
People want the safety and security that comes from having a trusted party manage their computers for them... Most normal people just see it as a tool, and if someone else will change the oil and the spark plugs for them, then that's even better.
A car *is* just a tool that provides mobility. If your car breaks, you fix it or get another and you're right back to driving around. Your car is under your control, the roads are a common asset, and as long as you follow driving laws and have the economic ability to purchase one, you can do what you like with it. This is the ideal situation.
If your car chose to cease functioning because you fingered the manufacturer's CEO in traffic (thus breaking the no-obscenity clause in the car's TOS) would you be OK with that? Should that TOS even be allowed?
If cloud infrastructure becomes the norm, and local storage becomes somehow 'second tier' or 'for the poor', the commons of the network will cease to matter, and the very existence of a server on the internet will be subject to, say Amazon's Terms Of Service. See Wikileaks for an example of what to expect.
It's not hard to foresee a day when ISPs start shutting down access to sites not hosted on approved, "secure" clouds, at least for their basic service tiers. You'll pay extra for the 'full' internet. Most people won't bother because "everything they need is in the cloud", and they'll be happy with the lack of viruses and spam in the walled garden. The lack of IPV4 addresses might be used to drive this. Amazon might give away 'private' Elastic IP addresses to AWS customers, ISPs might pay to route customers to the AWS namespace. Suddenly Average Joe will be demanding lock-in as a feature.
The proliferation of tablets and dumbed-down, specialized devices with limited or no local storage will only encourage this evolution.
And it's the same way here, except to a few ultra-paranoids who think that everything is all about "the man controlling our data". Sorry, it just isn't. Apple doesn't give a crap about your data. They're just providing a service that the average guy who isn't a technophile *wants*. And that's why Cloud computing will take off. Technophiles have a 100% track record of being wrong about these things, because they don't understand that almost nobody else values what they value.
You really are mixing up your arguments, and your smugness is misplaced. This isn't about technophiles versus "normal people", or "ultra-paranoids" versus "average guys". Cloud computing has *already* taken off. We certainly understand that consumers don't value anything but cheapness and convenience. We're Technophiles, not Morons.
We're waving our hands because we understand the technical and social tradeoffs that are about to be made by our non-technical fellows. We are concerned for society and for everyone's abillity to build and use technology freely.
Technophiles built the digital ground you stand on. Cloud vendors will probably succeed in baiting Joe User back into an AOL-style walled garden, and you're free to go with him.
Enjoy your happy slavery while our tiny minority tries to figure out how to protect you from yourself. Or do some thinking, forgo some convenience, and help us help you: don't buy into the cloud if you can help it, even if Jobs makes it shiny.
I could see this being a very useful evolution of either the mac or windows operating systems if it gave us users the ability to instantly and economically access cloud computing power for some of the really computation intensive tasks like Video editing. I would actually prefer it if it were Microsoft because they seem now less intrusive than the new Apple. I am not willing to have anyone control my user experience to the extent that they do.
You liked that it was possible at all, probably saving you lengthy roadtrips to administer a remote server. But when comparing to working on a local machine, GP is entirely correct. I occasionally use a remote Windows computer. Even on our 100 Mbps company network the mouse lag is annoyingly noticeable, let alone when I'm logging in from home via an SDSL line (6 Mbps?).
we all use and depend on the modern desktop computer, and the OS is a pretty basic element of that. At this stage in mankinds' development they qualify as essential infrastructure. Let the gov't (in the form of grants to GNU/OSS developers) drive OS development. Just like they do the roads.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I've been talking about this for around a week now, without reading any of the other online speculation beyond the pieces that seem to fit together nicely. The way Apple seems to be migrating themselves as a company, they're slowly edging into network appliance territory and away from general purpose computing. That isn't to say they're going to drop general purpose systems like the current Mac line altogether, but I suspect they're on target to go ahead and reintroduce a whole new category that those of us who have been around for a long time have seen before as Information or Network Appliances.
Only this time, they'll have the proper groundwork laid for it to succeed.
My personal suspicion is that they'll introduce a new Mobile Me experience (Me.com, is it?) and tie that together with a fourth pillar of the company's product lineup, likely something to replace the Mac Mini but limited to App Store software. Of course, the limitation will mean they can make this new product with cheaper parts and at a typically-Apple high margin. Storage will be cloud based as everyone pretty much expects, and it'll share out to iOS devices and full-tilt computers. Though, the latter category might be a while in arriving on the desktop.
Of all the companies that have tried, or could try, to run a cloud based system introduction, nobody's ever been better positioned than Apple is right now. They've got the hardware, the experience to make the software, and most importantly the mindshare to achieve the kind of critical mass necessary for cloud based systems to be economically viable along with the cash to start it up.
Privacy and security implications are of course a big question, but the inevitability of this kind of product has been building for a long while.
I wish I'd had some money for stock. :P
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
and I see all sorts of people saying "This is a lousy idea! Anyone who uses it is a fool!"
I swear half the time what they mean is "This is a great idea! I just wish I had the knowledge to be able to implement it myself!". That or "I don't like the idea of Apple enjoying success!"
Apple has already solved that with Time Machine, in that you can just roll back the system a day or so pretty easily.
Perhaps this cloud thing is just moving Time Machine out into the cloud so you don't even need a HD - other companies are doing large scale backup already, why not Apple to?
In fact this would be a real boon because even as simple as TM is, people do not check to see if the TM disks are still operational...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
you seem to be conflating cloud with desktop virtualization. the network needs of cloud use depend primarily on the amount of data creation or mutation going on, not on the bandwidth of the UI. it's also not clear that apple would actually win by shifting to dumber/thinner clients, as opposed to the hardware they sell now, which are basically high-margin reformatted PCs.
You completely forgot that there will be adds you have to click to be able to use the OS, that it will run on a water-cooled laptop that can change the case color and will have a mouse with a rotary dial. Because we all know that Apple actually implements everything it patents.
Fandroids hate facts.
Clearly, GP is not familiar with the Mother of All Demos. The main computer was on the other end of a 1968 modem.
true
"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
I have no strong opinions on this point. I'm just a skeptic and a pessimist: since it did not work before, I'm not really believing it's going to work now, if something doesn't fundamentally changed the landscape.
I always feels like people are trying to build a fancy IBM3270 and are thinking that they invented something new.
English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
Ditto. And to the others who claim current display tech is too much, I do this daily for work (1600x1200 resolution, millions of colors) and have done so for years. It worked great on the 1.5Mbps cable connection I had a few years back. I've run 1920x1080 on my laptop from public wifi connections with no problems either. Bandwidth hasn't really been a limiting factor in my experience. Latency can be killer, though.
How do you run their CloudOS while on an airplane? In a train tunnel? While disconnected from the Internet itself?
There's a growing, ignorant view that everyone has access to Internet all the time, and that's simply not true, and in fact, is growing in the opposite direction. Many people are taking their devices with them more and more, and finding that they have less connectivity than they thought they did.
Home? Yes. Work? Yes. Friend's house? Yes. But all the touch points in-between? No, not likely... so what then?
He is... Steven MacCloud of the Clan McCloud. He cannot die, unless you take his head, and with it, his iPower.
NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
This would be a monumentally stupid move. Far too many people use their computers where there is no Internet access let alone one with enough bandwidth to do something like this.
Furthermore, this will only lead to renting software every effing month.