Apple WWDC Announcements - iCloud and More.

Well, I've had roughly a week to absorb the general "message" given this past Monday, at the Apple WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) keynote presentation in San Francisco. The message that I got from it was that a significant change to personal computing is coming. It may not happen tomorrow or next week, but the change is on its way.

If you have an interest (as well as nearly 2 hours to kill), you can watch the entire keynote here. If not, I wouldn't blame you; they're probably not for everybody. I personally enjoy watching these keynotes, but they do tend to run rather long, and are probably a bit too geeky for those not generally into that sort of thing. To attempt to briefly sum up exactly what was discussed at the keynote, it was 3 upcoming technologies from Apple: Mac OS X "Lion", the new version of their Mac operating system; iOS 5, which runs on their mobile devices including the nearly ubiquitous iPhone and iPad; and their new internet-based service called iCloud.

After watching the webcast of the keynote, the standouts for me were particularly the presentations for Mac OS X "Lion" and iCloud. The iOS 5 presentation was fine, but to me it seemed mostly like it will be an update to simply address some sticking OS issues that users have had with iPhone almost from the beginning, when the first version was introduced in 2007. The one major change that I noticed about the upcoming iOS is that users will no longer be forced to sync data from a PC or Mac. You will be able to use your iOS device as your one and only... device. Finally, no computer needed! One major issue definitely addressed, there.

The new version of Mac OS X, code-named "Lion" (due sometime in July), will be bringing some fairly major changes to the general look and feel of the OS. Apple has made it no secret that many of the new features in the new version of the OS are directly inspired by their experiences developing their iOS, which runs on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apparently their goal is to make the Mac simpler to use and navigate, much like their mobile devices. Finger gestures (familiar to iPhone & iPad users) to initiate commands, and easier access to and management of applications seem to be the emphasis with this new version of the Mac OS. Since OS X Lion is not out yet, we can only speculate at this point whether this shift in approach to the OS will be good or bad; for us users, and subsequently for Apple, as a business. Much of the features demonstrated seem pretty interesting to say the least, so I'm anxious to see how it plays out.

Which brings us to iCloud, Apple's new internet service, included as a component of the new iOS 5. Honestly I'm still trying to completely wrap my head around what they're trying to do with this, but I believe I get the general idea. iCloud offers storage and backup, as well as an easy way to sync all your devices. It's a way to have access to all your data, from any device you may have in your hands at any given time!

The way Steve Jobs explained it, Apple initiated a concept about 10 years ago, where the personal computer would be the "hub" where all of your digital media is stored; music, photos, video, etc. What they hope to do with iCloud is make the computer simply another one of those devices, just like your smartphone, tablet device, what have you. The hub (for most Mac users, Apple is hoping) will now be a data center (or "server farm") they have set up in North Carolina. What they will store there is most if not all of our digital media, especially media purchased from the iTunes store as well as their recently launched Mac App Store. At present, the type of data included for iCloud is mail, contacts, calendar info, iWorks documents, music, photos, apps, and books.

Apple seems to be going in a slightly different direction from Google and Amazon with their cloud computing offerings. The advantage of iCloud appears to be that all your data would be instantly accessible by any of your devices, new or current. The data does not remain in the cloud to be "streamed" to your devices. The data is automatically downloaded (or "pushed") to your devices. The amazing thing is that they will offer this service (mostly) for free.

My opinion is that if these new technologies catch on like Apple would obviously like them to, it's bound to make them an even more powerful entity in the tech industry than they already are. I'm sure there are many who have already found things about the announcement to complain about (mostly because it is Apple announcing it, haha), but the way I see it, Apple is one of the few tech companies out there who are actually creating fundamental changes to not only the technology itself, but in how we interact with it. As opposed to the approach of other companies, who wait to see what everyone else is doing before making a move. But back to Apple, it will most likely be an interesting 6 to 12 months, seeing the public's response to these intriguing new products and services.