iTunes cloud coming soon? Apple buys massive storage

Rumors of a cloud-based iTunes have been floating around for a long time. Speculation based mostly on everyone’s desire to have instantly accessible content that could be streamed to their devices. With Amazon launching its own Cloud Locker very recently, the pressure is certainly on Apple to deliver.

Yesterday, Storage Newsletter published a report stating that Cupertino had purchased 12PB (1 petabyte = 1,024TB) of storage from Isilon Systems. I think you’ll agree with me when I say, that’s an incredible amount of space. But what could Jobs&Co possibly want with so much of it? It could be that Apple is finally planning on unveiling an online storage space for all your multimedia, meaning iTunes would be wireless and accessible anywhere you go. No more syncing your iPod, no more choosing which videos you want on your device, and which you don’t. You’ll simply be able to choose which content you want to listen to, or watch, and access it anywhere you have an internet connection.

However great this sounds, there could be some issues here. If you have no WiFi connection near you, but fancy watching a movie you have stored on the web, would you trust your 3G connection to stream the content without any buffering? We’ve all been in that place where you’re trying to find a YouTube video to show your pal only to be disappointed by your network connection. I mean, most US iPhone users are on AT&T, which is renowned for having an overused network. This would lead to a disappointing user experience, which we all know, Apple would not allow.

This leads me to believe, then, that if the service was available, Apple would restrict it to WiFi only. In turn, this would mean no listening to music on the bus, or in a cab (unless they have wireless). Instead, Starbucks would be making a fortune as iPhone wielders flock to its coffee houses just to listen to the latest Glee soundtrack. Maybe, once 4G is up and running reliably, I could see this being successful, but as things stand now, I can’t see it being all that great. WWDC 2011 is just around the corner, could this be the “future of iOS and Mac OSX”? Who knows.

What do you guys think? Would this be the biggest leap forward by Apple yet? Or would it lead to disappointment? Comment below, or tweet @TiP_Cam.

Via: Storage Newsletter