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Comment by pavlov | Hacker News Reader

Gruber: ... Apple’s vision for “access anywhere” is “iPhone everywhere”.

I'm reminded of how Jean-Louis Gassée, head of Apple's Macintosh development in the late 1980s, responded when asked how they plan to connect Macs to the network. He held up a piece of phone wire and said "this is our network". This was a reference to Apple's proprietary LocalTalk protocol which could be used over regular RJ11 connectors.

The gist of this story is that Apple completely ignored the need for interoperability with the Mac. The iCloud has a whiff of the same hubris.

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Hubris in what way?

I think back there's a common belief in nerddom that it's gotta cover all these technical topics or else it's bad. Most people that use iCloud will not care about anything else other than the fact that their data 'magically' appears where it's needed. This is where I completely agree with Apple and diverge from the tech crowd - the best experience should just work.

Will it magically appear on my linux box?

Does that matter? Linux has a rather low market share, especially among Apple’s target demographic.

So do Macs.

iCloud works on Windows.

Gruber: ... Apple’s vision for “access anywhere” is “iPhone everywhere”.

The problem is that the dream of iPhone everywhere is dead for most people. Android isn't looking back. iPhone will never surpass Android in marketshare again. For most people, if the iCloud means an iPhone device, that means iCloud won't be used.

>For most people,

There are circles within circles though... and I think that's what Apple is marketing to.

Hm, how is “iPhone everywhere” meant, though? I read it as “my iPhone with me everywhere”, not as “everyone has an iPhone”. You might be talking about two different things

Yeah, you're definitely right. Although the lack of ubiquity is still a problem -- especially if iOS devices stay flat in terms of marketshare. iOS owners will have to tether everything into their iPhone. People with the other clouds will have first class support of their cloud data with whatever device they use.

Yeah, those two things are not entirely unrelated. Making having an iPhone with you everywhere really useful will also depend to some extent on how good you can collaborate and share with other people.

You shouldn’t forget that connection but I also wouldn’t exaggerate it. Also, iOS still has a sizable market share, maybe more than the Mac ever had? That helps, too.

Some of Apple's new stuff sounds very much like they are going with everyone has an iPhone. Facetime, iMessage etc

Maybe, maybe not. But so what? Apple has never been about mass market (perhaps excepting the iPod). If you want the best possible experience and "it just works" and you can afford it you will get the iPhone. That niche may not be the largest but so far it has been the most profitable.

Market share is the runner-up prize for those who value a large community of vocal spendthrifts.

People aspire to an iPhone, they settle for Android.

Good point. He left out the "mac only" aspect of the discussion. I have a Macbook and an Android phone and an iPad but iCloud doesn't change the way I use any of them because I'm not using an iPhone.

Will iCloud be Mac only? All the boring stuff (calendar, addresses, etc.) apparently not but what about the Document API developers can use?

There is a windows API, it was announced in the Keynote.

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