Recycled Computing

Clouds from Both Sides

- 2011.06.15

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow,
It's cloud illusions I recall,
I really don't know clouds, at all
   - Joni Mitchell

I watched Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and couldn't help but feel that I was watching the end of an era. Even with a healthy Steve Jobs, the reality distortion field was not quite as evident, and for the first time, it appeared that Apple was reacting to the computer industry, not the other way around.

Apple is trying to transfer the successful elements of the portable iOS to OS X, which makes sense from a business perspective and from a software perspective, as my friend, Mr. Mike points out. You want everything to be similar so an iPhone purchaser can move right to buying a MacBook (or whatever Apple is going to call it in the future). Of course, I'm going to grouse a little that OS X 10.7 Lion requires more advanced processors than 10.6 does.

This is a losing cause, as any owner of a PowerPC Mac knows. Apple is marching forward, past Intel chips and into it's own home grown A chips. I either buy a newer machine or grouch in the background.

Fester, fester, rot, rot. It's hard being a curmudgeon.

It's gotten so bad that I had to use my iPad to view the conference, because the computer I use at work (an iMac with an Intel Core 2 Duo) couldn't show it. Hmmmm, I can't wait until iOS 5 shows up; by updating iTunes, I can let the cloud update my music libraries on my iPod touch and iPad.

I'm a little concerned about Apple's use of the cloud. All of it seems to be application based - and it requires an upgrade in hardware as well. It's just another example of Apple trying to keep everything in the garden.

I'm not too sure that I won't just switch to using Google to provide my cloud services. Google doesn't care what equipment I am using or what operating system I have.*

Is it possible that iCloud is an example of Apple reacting to the market, rather than the market reacting to Apple? The old Applephile in me is wary - is Apple going to be the new Microsoft and no longer be the pesky Rebel Alliance constantly providing an alternative to the Dark Empire?

Will success ruin Tab Hunter? (He's a movie star from the sixties.) I just hope it won't apply to Apple. LEM

* Publisher's note: No, but Google does care what browser version you use. In short, if your hardware doesn't support an operating system that supports the second-most-recent version of a browser, some Google Apps may not work as they do on newer browsers, if they work at all. See Google Apps Dropping Support for Third-Oldest Version of Browsers in last week's Mac News Review for more details. If . dk

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Google+, or subscribe to our RSS news feed

Today's Links

Recent Content

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2016 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
Cult of Mac
Shrine of Apple
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
The Vintage Mac Museum
Deal Brothers
DealMac
Mac2Sell
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End Mac FAQ

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
Macgo Blu-ray Player
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay

Low End Mac's Amazon.com store

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact Page not found | Low End Mac

Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching, or one of the links below, can help.

Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Archives

Try looking in the monthly archives. :)

Tags

802.11g 802.11n 68030 68040 Apple April Fools clamshell iBook Classic Mac OS FireWire FireWire 400 G3 humor iBook iMac iMac G3 Intel iOS iPad iPhone LaserWriter Linux Mac MacBook Air Mac clones Mac mini Mac OS 9 macOS Sierra Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Microsoft OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OS X 10.9 Mavericks OS X 10.10 Yosemite OS X 10.11 El Capitan Performa PowerBook PowerPC Rodney O. Lain SCSI Thunderbolt USB 1.1 USB 2.0
at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link