iCloud user figures rocket

In his keynote speech at the Goldman Sachs Technology Internet Conference Tim Cook addressed a number of issues, he mentioned the runaway success of the iPhone and the iPad, and talked about working conditions in Apple’s factories. He did mention one thing that particularly caught my attention however, and that was iCloud. (To listen to the entire speech click here, bearing in mind you’ll need QuickTime to play the clip)

Cook announced that in the past 21 days, the number of people using the storage service had grown by 15 million. From 85 million to 100 million. In 21 days, that’s a pretty astonishing increase, it goes a long way in establishing just how successful Apple’s new initiative has been.

Cook was also very keen to point out that iCloud was here to stay. From what I recall he described it as “a strategy for the next decade”. He said the driving force behind iCloud was the ability to link a large family of Macs and iDevices, simplifying the way they shared data between each other. It would be a pretty safe bet to assume that iCloud will play a significant role in the future development of Apple products.

Now whilst I don’t find myself interacting with iCloud on a daily basis, it’s really convenient, say, to buy a song on my computer, and have it appear on my iPhone almost instantly. When it comes to using multiple computers the way I do, syncing a device over and over can become a pain. iCloud is even more helpful to people like our very own Cam and Jake, running Macs, iPads and iPhones simultaneously before iCloud was a logistical nightmare, for customers like them, iCloud provides a common denominator for all the devices, and brings them together in one mini ecosystem. When I asked Cam what he thought of iCloud, he very simply replied:

“Couldn’t live without it”

Be sure to comment below if you have your own opinion on iCloud, good or bad. We’d love to hear from you. If you have an opinion, questions, or some feedback for me personally, then head over to my Twitter where I’ll respond to anything you have to say.