Lion and the iCloud
Brad Chin
I really want a new iPhone this year, 'iPhone 5,' maybe? Perhaps Apple is waiting for the release of iOS 5 and iCloud, their new cloud service that they say will be free for iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion users. I just keep thinking about how bad call quality is on my AT&T iPhone 4.
It's not that AT&T is cheaper, either. Sprint and T-Mobile both offer unlimited plans that are cheaper than AT&T's very-finite plan offerings. If a new iPhone model were to release, I would hope that a Verizon version would exist — because I'd switch. Meanwhile, I do have a second line (with T-Mobile) setup as a BlackBerry, and I'm eligible to upgrade that phone for something better. I've been seeing a lot of 4G commercials; I winder if it's any good for talking.
It shouldn't be so hard to get a phone designed to be good at voice calls. Wasn't that the primary job of a cell phone at some point, or has it always been about playing 'Snake' or Infinity Blade? It must've been about the calls; I had a Siemens S40, a phone with a blue backlit screen and no games. I used it to talk, and its battery lasted for about five hours of talk time... that was ten years ago, at least.
I think that 'iCloud' sounds promising, but I'm a little upset with these transitions. First .Mac to MobileMe, and now to iCloud. What's next?! I remember reading an article ten years ago talking about Jobs' intent to drag OS X out as long as possible before cashing out of Apple. Back then, I thought that, surely, we'd be using OS XI or XII by now... oops.
I just hope that the reliance on these service doesn't doom our privacy and security. In theory, I like the idea of smaller HDDs, movies streamed from my collection to anywhere. It would mean that iPhone and iPad hard drives could stay small, and the money and development could go to graphics, RAM, battery life and better screens (better cellular reception would be nice, too).
'Lion' will sell for $29.99 through the Mac App Store. Yay, another "250+ features," aka 'padding;' we're going to be encouraged to pay for a fairly nominal upgrade — combine iOS tech with 'regular' OS X.
Perhaps I'll enjoy a Sprint Android phone, enough to use it... as a phone first.