Q: Why pay for this when there are many others clouds giving away bigger storage and for free. Is Apple trying to make revenue because its innovation is disappearing? MobileMe was way better than iCloud. It was Apples Dropbox, very cool.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities

I remember reading that MobileMe was terrible because of its bad performance. That's the reason why I didn't purchase it.

Anyway, if you want to use a cloud service to store data, definitely iCloud isn't your cloud service. iCloud is focused on data sync between your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC and to store iCloud-compatible apps files on it, but nothing else.

Having said that, I prefer an external drive to store my files, but if you want a cloud service, have a look at Dropbox or SkyDrive

Some comparisons:

iCloud: Additional storage for Backup, Documents etc: additional 10GB, $20 p.a., 20 GB, $40 p.a., 50GB $100 p.a. (this is not general file storage, unlike the others)

Dropbox: free to 2GB, then $9.99 per month for 100GB

SugarSync: free to 5GB then $49.99 p.a. for 30GB

SkyDrive:  free up to 7GB, upgradeable to 27GB ($10 p.a.), 57GB ($25 pa.) or 107GB ($50 p.a.)

Google Drive: free to 5GB, with upgrades to 25GB ($2.49 per month), 100GB ($5 per month) or one terabyte ($50 per month)

Crashplan: $2.50 per month for 10GB and one computer, with discounts for annual subscriptions and a higher-level plan with unlimited storage at $5.00 per month.

This page examines a number of online storage services:

http://rfwilmut.net/missing3

MacMate: £19 p.a. for 5GB and basic facilities with upgrade options up to £65 p.a. for 25GB and website hosting, further upgradeable to 200GB.

Mozy: free up to 2GB (albeit with no support): its $5.99 per month for 50GB and one computer only - extra computers at $2 per month per computer and additional space at $2 per 20GB per month, with higher-level plans also available.

As far as I can recall, My SkyDrive is 25GB and free, Box is 50GB and free as well.  The competition runs promos from time to time for free upgrades. Keep your eyes open.

Apple is encouraging its loyal crowd to leave, I think.  Not the brightest move IMHO...

If the "brightest" move is "not to make money" that move is not for Apple, loyal crowd already knows that.

Then why not make a 'brighter' move and give users 100MB of free storage and start charging from there..... Customers who are price-sensitive will feel the pinch, and look for alternatives. Do you enjoy endorsing your pay checks to Apple.....?

omarrodz wrote:

 

Do you enjoy endorsing your pay checks to Apple.....?

On the contrary, I hate that particular part of process, try to avoid as much as I can. But point of my post was/is -- that is not direction of said company to comp stuff on regular basis, Steve didn't create Apple to lose money, not to my experience anyway.

Nobody creates a company to 'lose' money.... it is successful strategies that lead them to stay ahead of the competitoin. Is this a good strategy? Who knows. It is just dissapointing to be encouraged to move to another provider (i.e. Microsoft, Box) for 20GB of free cloud services...

iCloud is a different, specialized service from Dropbox and the others.  How can you compare the two.

Can Dropbox keep your contacts, calendars, email, notes in sync?  Can it receive a backup from an iOS device?  Can it be used by apps that only support icloud?

Can icloud store any kind of file you want and let you access it in a hierarchical way (folders, subfolders).  Can if store files from apps that only connect to Dropbox and/or other services?

If you know of a way to seamlessly sync contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks, photos, tasks etc. between Macs, PCs and iOS devices using SkyDrive or Box with the native Mac OS, Windows and iOS applications, please share it. Also, if you know how you can backup an iOS device to SkyDrive or Box and restore the device directly from that cloud stored backup, again, please tell us how.

iCloud is not a basic file storage product like SkyDrive or Box. If that is what you need, then there are products that fit that need better than iCloud. iCloud has never been designed for or marketed as a pure cloud-based file storage service.

Customers who are 'price sensitive' likely would have purchased a cheap or 'free' Android device - not an iPhone or iPad.

If you know of a way to seamlessly sync contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks, photos, tasks etc. between Macs, PCs and iOS devices using SkyDrive or Box with the native Mac OS, Windows and iOS applications, please share it.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2043969/dropbox-promises-improved-syncing-app-da ta-storing-at-developer-conference.html

100% FAIL!! That link doesn't answer my question AT ALL...

Firstly, you nor I mentioned Dropbox, you specifically mentioned SkyDrive and Box.

Secondly, that unreleased Dropbox API does not allow "seamless syncing of contacts, calendars, notes, bookmarks, photos, tasks etc. between Macs, PCs and iOS devices with the native Mac OS, Windows and iOS applications"

For that to be possible, Apple and Microsoft would have to build support for that Dropbox API into Mac OS X, iOS and Windows and their native applications... that ain't gonna happen when they both have their own cloud storage solutions.

omarrodz wrote:

 

As far as I can recall, My SkyDrive is 25GB and free,

No: 7GB free, 50GB £16 p.a., 100GB £32 p.a. (not a bad price).

Microsoft have offered 25GB free in promotions in the past, so it is possible if he took advantage of one of these.

https://www.google.com/search?q=skydrive+25gb+free