Hi all,
a wonderfull and interesting discussion bringing out all the tricks and treats behind the scene.
I am personally very unhappy and angry because I lost all my data starting from 2000 on my iCal because even after hours of apple support (money lost and time) and days spending in the internet the cloud (money/time) it does not work. I meanwhile have 4 different and substancially reduced calendars on 3 devices and the iCloud. I call this data loss. It harms my business. I pay for a working device or software and not for try outs. 😠
So I woulkd like to look at all this mess from different points of view:
1) technically - does not work - see above
2) usability - if you travel a lot and you have no net in many areas or pay a lot, what shall you do? Manually enter each entry, because whilst on the phone I work with my MBP and on the way I use my iPad or iPhone for entering dates. For me there is no reason to force someone in the cloud, especially if there is a working sync service.
3) security - talk about the known leaks and usage of our data without letting us know and without asking.
4) business - you pay a lot for a working software and hardware. If this you payed for ruins your data it is normally a recourse or even legal issue. Apple does like all the other big companies to avoid taxes and escaping any recourse. I had this concerning some tax issues with apple. Asking them for a legal bill they answered: we are a US company and the law of Germany does not apply. Ridiculous. I finally won the case, but imagine this behavior, this general thinking and mindset. - reference to snozdop above - keep dreaming 😁
So finally you pay but get no support, even if you loose your data. Bringing them to court means you have to have a lot of money.
5) future - the more they force you in the cloud, the more they make. Today 5 gig are free. What will be in the future? Look at the buy more space button. Here you can see where all this will lead, to bloodsucking and captivity.
Finally, if it would work and security would be garanteed (not trusting the words, inspection is the solution) I would walk this way if there are no alternatives, but apple fails in all aspects. What are the values meanwhile: profit without service?! Other brands have fallen due to smaller issues. Thsi will damage the brand.
Freedom means you are having a choice. I feel like in prison at the moment. This is not my choice. I search for alternatives and looking at ubuntu or modzilla there is hope.
Brendt