Apple picker Let's take a look at cloud services this week, it seems like a good time to recall Apple's long history of forays into online services. History takes us back to the mid-80s, which is almost the same time when the Macintosh itself was born.
The rise of online
It's hard to believe, but in the mid-80s, the Internet did not work as we know it today. At the time, the Internet was the domain of scientists, researchers, and academics—a network of mainframe computers funded by Department of Defense money as research into building a communications infrastructure that could survive a nuclear attack.
In the first wave of personal computers, early hobbyists could buy modems that allowed the computers to communicate with each other over regular telephone lines. Many hobbyists limited themselves to communicating with small BBS systems, which on the other hand allowed more than one user to connect via modem.
Fans began to exchange messages with each other, download files or play online games, which were variations of games designed for mainframe computers and for computers used in universities and laboratories. At the same time that online services like CompuServe began to attract users, these companies greatly expanded the range of services for subscribers.
Independent computer retailers began popping up all over the country—the world. But the sellers needed help. And so AppleLink also began.
AppleLink
In 1985, a year after the first Macintosh appeared on the market, Apple introduced AppleLink. This service was originally designed as a support specifically for employees and traders who had various questions or needed technical support. The service was accessible via dial-up using a modem, then using the General Electric GEIS system, which provided e-mail and a bulletin board where users could leave messages and reply to them. AppleLink eventually became accessible to software developers as well.
AppleLink remained the exclusive domain of a select group of technicians, but Apple recognized that they needed a service for users. For one, the budget for AppleLink was cut and AppleLink Personal Edition was being developed. It debuted in 1988, but poor marketing and an expensive model to use (annual subscriptions and a high charge per hour of use) drove customers away in droves.
Thanks to the development, Apple decided to continue with the service, but a little differently and came up with a dial-up service called America Online.
It took some time, but Apple finally got the result. The service went to other places, including their own site, and AppleLink was unceremoniously shut down in 1997.
E-World
In the early 90s, America Online (AOL) became the way many Americans accessed online services. Even before the Internet was a household word, people with personal computers and modems dialed up bulletin board services and used online services like CompuServe to share messages with each other, play online games, and download files.
Because using AOL with a Mac was user-friendly, a large base of Mac users quickly developed. So it was no surprise that Apple got back in touch with AOL and they developed a partnership based on their previous efforts.
In 1994, Apple introduced eWorld for Mac users only, with a graphical interface based on the square concept. Users can click on individual buildings in the square to access different parts of the content - e-mail, newspapers, etc. eWorld was largely derived from the work AOL did for Apple with AppleLink Personal Edition, so it was little wonder that software reminiscent of AOL could start.
eWorld was doomed almost from the start thanks to Apple's disastrous mismanagement for most of the 90s. The company did little to promote the service, and although the service came pre-installed on Macs, they kept the price higher than AOL. By the end of March 1996, Apple had shut down eWorld and moved it to the Apple Site Archive. Apple started working on another service, but it was a long shot.
iTools
In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple after the merger of Apple and Jobs' computer company, Next. The 90s were over and Jobs was overseeing the introduction of new Mac hardware, the iMac and iBook, in January 2000 Jobs introduced OS X at the San Francisco Expo. The system hadn't been on sale for several months, but Jobs used a speech like the introduction of iTools, Apple's first attempt at an online experience for its users since eWorld ceased operations.
A lot has changed in the online world in that time. Since the mid-90s, people have become far less reliant on online service providers. AOL, CompuServe, and other providers (including eWorld) began providing other Internet connections. Users were connected to the Internet directly using a dial-up service or, in the best case, a broadband connection provided by a cable service.
iTools - specifically aimed at Mac users running Mac OS 9 - was accessible through Apple's website and was free. iTools offered a family-oriented content filtering service called KidSafe, an email service called Mac.com, iDisk, which gave users 20MB of free Internet storage suitable for file sharing, a home page, and a system for building your own website hosted on Apple's own servers.
Apple expanded iTools with new capabilities and services and prepaid options for users who needed more than just online storage. In 2002, the service was renamed to .Mac.
.Mac
.Mac Apple has expanded the range of online services based on the assumptions and experience of Mac OS X users. This service costs $99 per year. Mac.com options are extended to users, e-mail (larger capacity, IMAP protocol support) 95 MB iDisk storage, Virex anti-virus software, protection and backup, which allowed users to archive data to their iDisk (or burn to CD or DVD) .
Once OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" launched later that year. Users could share their calendar with each other using iCal, the new calendar for Mac. Apple also introduced a .Mac-based photo sharing app called Slides.
Apple would continue to improve and refine MobileMe over the next few years, but 2008 was the time for a refresh.
MobileMe
In June 2008, Apple diversified its product offering to include the iPhone and iPod touch, and customers bought the new products in droves. Apple introduced MobileMe as a redesigned and renamed Mac service. something that bridged the gap between iOS and Mac OS X.
When Apple focused on MobileMe it was a nudge in the services area. Microsoft Exchange, e-mail, calendar and contact services then raised a huge number of ideas.
Rather than passively waiting for the user, MobileMe maintains contact itself using e-mail messages. With the introduction of iLifeApple software, Apple introduced a new application called Web, which was originally used to create web pages - a replacement for HomePage, a feature originally introduced in iTools. MobileMe supports searching for iWeb sites.
iCloud
In June 2011, Apple introduced iCloud. After years of charging for the service, Apple has decided to change and provide iCloud for free, at least for the first 5GB of storage capacity.
iCloud bundled together the former MobileMe services — contacts, calendar, email — and redesigned them for the new service. Apple has also merged the AppStore and iBookstore into the i Cloud – allowing you to download apps and books for all iOS devices, not just the ones you've bought.
Apple also introduced iCloud backup, which will allow you to backup your iOS device to iCloud whenever there is a problem with Wi-Fi.
Other changes include support for document syncing between iOS and OS X apps, which support the Apple iCloud Storage API (Apple's iWork app being the most prominent), Photo Stream, and iTunes in the Cloud, which allows you to download music previously purchased from iTunes. Apple also introduced iTunes Match, an optional service for $24,99 that will allow you to upload your entire library to the cloud if you download it later and if necessary, and replace the music with 256 kbps AAC files whenever it is compared to the content in iTunes Store.
The future of Apple's Cloud service
Recently, Apple announced that former MobileMe users who were supposed to top up the 20GB in iCloud as part of their transition had run out of time. These users will either have to pay for the extension by the end of September or lose what they have stored above 5GB, which is the default Cloud setting. It will be interesting to see how Apple behaves to keep customers logged in.
After more than two years, iCloud remains Apple's state-of-the-art for cloud services. No one knows where the future lies. But when iCloud was introduced in 2011, Apple said it was investing more than half a billion dollars in a data center in North Carolina to support "expected requests for free iCloud customer services." Despite the fact that Apple has billions in the bank, it's a big investment. The company is clear that it is a long shot.
the article is full of errors and it is clear from it that it is a bad translation from somewhere else...
I agree, I read an article and in the middle of a sentence I forget what I read because it doesn't make sense.
Applelinkk tekno style
Everyone has to learn to write at some point. The author is apparently learning from this article.
But it will take some time…
but unfortunately in this area apple is unsatisfactory,
1/ sharing photos is a tragedy, the photostream is excellent, but it is not polled, while it has already been done on the mobile phone, I miss the possibility of creating a gallery within one shared photostream
2/ there is no protection against unwanted deletion of content, e.g. on dropbox I pay 38 USD a year for the so-called unlimited history, I don't have to worry that if I delete something, I don't have it
I'm sorry, I'm trying to read it, but I can't... I'd rather read the original with poor en than the translation thrown out of the translator.
As most of the discussants write, the article was translated by google translator and published.
I don't know if the editor-in-chief saw this, but even as an author I would be ashamed to publish an article in a work-in-progress state. Yes, it is not only about the translator, but also about the subsequent proofreading. I understand that the writer didn't have time, but he should have gone to the swimming pool and posted his work the next day after the council edit.
Are you kidding me? :-O