David Goodall wrote:
I appreciate your opinion. However I would say that "entirely inappropriate" is a bit strong; I know of many businesses getting on fine with this system now. I'm sure you know of businesses of a much larger structure, and for them it would be, I imagine, the wrong way to go. That said - I think a blanket "entirely inappropriate" is a bit of a general statement with - as far as I can read - nothing to back it up.
Still, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
This (see below) is what you agree to when using iCloud and all other free systems I have looked at, read it.
APPLE DOES NOT GUARANTEE, REPRESENT, OR WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, AND YOU AGREE THAT FROM TIME TO TIME APPLE MAY REMOVE THE SERVICE FOR INDEFINITE PERIODS OF TIME, OR CANCEL THE SERVICE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. APPLE AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN PARTICULAR, APPLE AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT (I) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (II) YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE TIMELY, UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE; (III) ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED BY YOU AS A RESULT OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; AND (IV) ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE PROVIDED TO YOU AS PART OF THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED.
APPLE DOES NOT REPRESENT OR GUARANTEE THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE FREE FROM LOSS, CORRUPTION, ATTACK, VIRUSES, INTERFERENCE, HACKING, OR OTHER SECURITY INTRUSION, AND APPLE DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY RELATING THERETO.
I prefer to pay for a system that does what I want, has a reasonable guarantee of running most of the time, has a retention policy for when it is not and has telephone support rather than a user forum. Your needs may be lesser, but I doubt it.