Apple's iCloud redefines the mobile -- and cloud -- experience | Mobile Technology - InfoWorld

http://m.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/apples-icloud-redefines-the-mobile-and-cloud-experience-324?source=rss_cloud_computing&mm_ref=http%3A%2F%2Fpaid.outbrain.com%2Fnetwork%2Fredir%3Fkey%3Df09055d58183dd68b38775c828e63264%26rdid%3D214182754%26type%3DCAD_def_prd%26in-site%3Dfalse%26pc_id%3D3204174%26req_id%3De228d6201d471049fd7c5438f564b96b%26agent%3Dblog_JS_rec%26recMode%3D4%26reqType%3D1%26wid%3D101%26imgType%3D0%26version%3D39490%26idx%3D6

Excerpt:

Don't be surprised if by 2012 the cloud to most people will be Apple's iCloud, and the passport to enter that "magical" land will be an iOS device. Will this reverse the Android trend? Perhaps not, but it will slow it down. More important to IT, iCloud will be a key venue for your productivity users. For developers, it'll be where the profitable customers reside.

If any company has a hope of figuring out a compelling alternative, it's Google. But the company's fixation on Web apps misses the key realization Apple has made: If the apps aren't in a supportive ecosystem, those apps' positives are undone by the difficult maneuvering through the surrounding terrain. Certainly Apple's iCloud, iOS, and Mac OS X Lion ecosystem won't be perfect, but it will be the destination of choice -- the Canada of computing, whereas Google is more like Mexico, a mix of grace and misery.

A few weeks ago, I asked in part jest whether mobile could rescue the cloud. It's now clear that Apple intends to redefine the consumer cloud in its own image, as an invisible helper rather than a destination. People will very likely be happy with the result.

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