So I just got my new iPhone4 and I am loving it. I am always reading the inside scoop on AppleInsider and came across this article about the difference between iPhone4 cloud services and Android cloud services. Here is a photo explaining a little bit more thanks to Apple Insider.
Apple Insider says “The drawback to Google’s cloud-only strategy for Android is that cloud services are notorious for falling offline and for losing users’ data. From Microsoft’s Danger, to the Palm Pre and Nokia’s Ovi service, to RIM’s BlackBerry NOC, everyone who has offered cloud services for smartphones has also lost users’ data. That maxim also applies to both Google and Apple, which like everyone else in the industry has inadvertently interrupted services and lost user data related to their cloud operations. ”However, with iTunes and its “local backups by default” design, if your cloud services fail (and history indicates they will at some point), you can always revert to a local copy of your data you own and control. Google’s Android, like Microsoft, RIM, and other mobile platform vendors, not only bets that cloud services won’t ever fail, but also puts users’ backups in the cloud, ensuring that when they do fail, users will be completely helpless unless they’ve created a personal strategy to make their own local backups. Which nobody does, even when there is a way to do this.
Apple currently enjoys a strong lead in offering iTunes as a silver lining for cloud failures. Every iPhone is automatically backed up locally by default, making device replacement and upgrades easy and painless. Because Google and other vendors are focusing on improving and extending their cloud offerings, it looks like Apple will continue to enjoy an increasingly strong position with iTunes as a local sync hub, a factor that will prevent many iTunes users from even considering alternatives to iPhone, regardless of any potential, real advantages offered by Android. At the same time, Apple is pushing ahead its own cloud services in tandem with (and well integrated with) iTunes.”
iPhone users are just lucky that Google isn’t Microsoft. They work to enable many of their services on the iPhone. So you don’t have to get an Android to use Gmail. That said Android’s integration with the cloud is simply better. For example, that little tidbit from Google I/O you neglected : cloud to device integration for maps and web bookmarks on the Chrome browser.
Ultimately, when it comes to Google’s cloud services on Android, it just works. Put in your email address during setup and your done. Android does the rest for you.
The rest of the complaints are nonsense. No computer backup? My Mac downloads my Gmail and Google calendars. That’s sync right there. Or does it not count because it doesnt go through an iTunes filter?Doubletwist works great with iTunes. And the Amazon Kindle app should be good when released. Why should anybody care if the app is from Google or not?
There’s many things the iOS does better than Android. Cloud services integration is not one of them….unless you spend an extra $6 per month. You may think that price is inconsequential. Most people don’t. 70 bucks to do something the phone should do for free.
