Apple’s iCloud Almost Killed My Outlook

I've said it before, and I’ll say it again – I love my iPhone. From a design, usability, and functionality point of view, it’s an amazing piece of tech.

But, as I've also said before and will say again – I hate Apple’s software which they force you to use on their devices.

Apple’s iTunes often crashes, must be uninstalled and then re-installed to resolve issues, and on more than several occasions, has simply stopped working for no reason whatsoever. One minute it was fully functional, the next it’s hung or “bricked.”

Being an old school techy, I tend to take a while to gravitate to new technologies. I read reviews, read up on bug reports, and wait until I see the initial bugs which come with all early stages of tech are resolved.

I’ve been keeping out of the cloud for this reason – it’s still a new and somewhat experimental technological marvel. I’m used to backing up everything – including my iPhone – to my computer.

However, there are some cool benefits to sharing data with the cloud. Responses to emails from my iPhone would be in my Outlook on my computer, and any other iOS device I share via Apple’s iCloud. All my photos, apps, and other data would be available in the cloud too.

If Apple’s iCloud wasn’t like their other software which is complete and utter garbage.

I’m a very tech-savvy person. You know that friend that you always call when your latest tech suddenly stops working and you can’t figure it out? I’m that friend.

I don’t know why I thought iCloud would be any better of an experience than Apple’s immature iTunes – I read lots of instances of conflicts between MS-Outlook and the iCloud. But there were work-arounds, so I figured, if I encountered one of the many problems I read about, at least I could fix it. (And I'm using MS-Outlook 2007, which is supposedly fully compatible with Apple's iCloud.)

At first, when I tried to just turn on iCloud on my computer, it kept freezing. I did a search, and just like iTunes, the solution was to uninstall the application on my computer, reboot my system, and re-install it fresh.

I did this, and voila – it worked. Though someone should be challenging the Apple software team about why their software becomes corrupted so easily, and OFTEN requires their CUSTOMERS to uninstall and re-install it!

Although iCloud said it would take less than a minute to sync my computer with the cloud, it took about five minutes, and when it was done, my Outlook looked like it had never been used – all my emails, contacts, calendars and notes were gone!

My iPhone, still had all the emails, contacts and calendars which it had originally, but nothing from my PC was on my iPhone which wasn't already there prior to this so-called iCloud ‘sync.’

Now, being a techy geek, I had anticipated potential problems, so I made a backup of my MS-Outlook PST file prior to doing this iCloud thing. I always keep backups, but I made sure to make a current one so I wouldn't lose anything should the iCloud prove as well designed as iTunes.

And that’s a good thing – I immediately turned off iCloud on my iPhone and PC. Uninstalled the iCloud Control Panel on my PC – no I didn't re-install it – are you mad?!?!?

Then I copied the backup MS-Outlook PST file over the now corrupted one by iCloud. All my emails, contacts, calendars and notes were restored. Though I lost a few notes on my iPhone which for some reason iTunes didn’t sync with my PC (which I also did just prior to this iCloud trial), everything was back to normal.

I could only imagine the horror a regular iOS device user (iPhone, iPad, iPod) may go through installing and using iCloud. Most people aren't as geeky as me, and probably wouldn't even know how to backup their MS-Outlook, let alone restore it.

Apple has come under fire recently, as their new iPhone and iPad mini aren't as groundbreaking, heart-stopping amazing tech releases which we came to expect under Steve Jobs.

Many critics claim that since Job’s death just over a year ago, Apple’s once bright star will start to dim.

I don’t think this dimming has as much to do with the tragic loss of Jobs, but instead has been building over time.

Apple started as a computer hardware company, when they launched the first Apple Computers. Their third generation Apple IIe desktop computers back in the 1980’s were the start of their popularity in the home. They were forced to create an operating system – software – for their hardware to run.

Software has always taken a back seat at Apple. Their software has been designed much like their hardware – visually stunning, and extremely user-friendly – almost innate for most people to figure out.

However, as a hardware company first and foremost, their software is always buggy to the point of failing to do what it’s supposed to.

Apple’s iTunes is clunky, crashes, needs to be re-installed, and often fails to sync properly.

My recent experience with Apple’s iCloud – it’s clunky, crashes, needs to be re-installed, and it failed to sync properly.

Sound familiar?

If Apple wants to remain the shining star which Steve Jobs created, it’ll have to start catching up on the software side of things – because although I love my iPhone, as most with these devices do – I can’t stand iTunes or the iCloud – as most forced to use this software probably do too.

Hey Apple – Love the iPhone, Fix the iTunes

The tech world is always buzzing with the latest rumors from Apple. 

Will the next iPhone have a virtual keyboard which projects itself onto any surface? How about a holo-beam, capable of projecting anything on the iPhone’s screen into thin air – similar to the holodeck on Star Trek The Next Generation, only much smaller? Will they introduce a male version of the digital personal assistant Siri, so you can choose whether your phone is male or female?

Apple has an amazing marketing machine. They get the word out about their products through the rumor mill. Usually, when a rumor is spread about a company’s products, services, or even the company itself, it is negative. But Apple intentionally creates rumors about potential products and product features to generate so much media and geekdom hype that come launch day, we’re all like meth addicts climbing the walls waiting for our next fix.

Apple’s products for the most part are also technological break-throughs that rock the world, and change the way we do things for ever.

Remember the original Sony Walkman? A massive -- by today’s standards -- square of plastic, with a row of control buttons on the side.

We’re not talking about the next generation Walkman, which had the CD-player in it, we’re talkin’ the original from the 1980’s – long before anyone had ever seen a metallic disc – unless you’re referring to a heavy metal rock band’s metal-painted record. Remember those?

Both the record and the audio cassette became history as CDs and DVDs took the world by storm.

But the real innovation which shook the world was Apple’s iPod – a tiny portable MP3 player, which allowed you to carry more music, and it was crystal clear because it was digital audio.

When Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone with his famous phrase “this changes everything,” he wasn’t lying.

Before the iPhone, all most of us did on cell phones was talk, text and occasionally surf the net, using really bad text-driven cell phone browsers.

Who would have thought we’d ask our Smartphone for directions, what the weather forecast will be like, or to name the song currently playing in the restaurant?

Apple’s marketing machine is slick and creative, but their hardware products are also equally impressive – if not more so.

However, Apple’s software is surprisingly really, really, REALLY awful. Or at least it is on my MS-Windows machine, which may also be part of the issue.

Whenever I plug my iPhone into my computer to charge and sync with iTunes, I always cringe, watching with a tummy-turning uneasiness to see how iTunes will screw up my iPhone today.

Unless you jailbreak your iPhone, you have to use Apple’s iTunes to download and update apps, podcasts, and the latest updates to the iPhone’s operating system -- iOS.

You’d think Apple would have put as much care into creating iTunes, as they did their iTunes-dependent devices – iPods, iPads and iPhones all require iTunes for content management, unless they are jailbroken.

Think again.

It’s as if iTunes has a mind all its own, some days it’s in a great mood, and syncs without any issues.

The next day, it gives me an error and refuses to sync. Sometimes all it takes is unplugging my iPhone, closing iTunes, and starting again. Sometimes I have to delete backup files. Sometimes I have to enter crazy chaotic command line codes from an MS-DOS prompt window. Sometimes I just say ?!?!?! it and reset my iPhone to factory settings, and then restore everything from my network’s backup.

iTunes sucks – no – it is a disaster of an application. My iPhone can be working perfectly, and iTunes may have worked just as perfectly previously. But without any updates or warnings to either, when I plug in the iPhone – poof – iTunes decides to go all meshuguna crazy on me, and throws a fit. 

Maybe it’s because of Apple’s long standing rivalry with Microsoft. I run MS-Windows machines – as do about 95 percent of the planet – so maybe the Windows version of iTunes isn’t as error-free as it’s more native Apple-based Operating System (the Mac OS)?

If it is – Apple – get over it. Not everyone using an iPhone is going to change their entire platform to conform to your standards.

Whatever the issue – Apple really needs to seriously fix iTunes. Although Apple let the genie out of the tech bottle by giving the world its first real Smartphone, they are no longer the only game in town.