Apple iCloud vs. Google Cloud: Aren't they the same thing?

Our good friends over at Mobiles.co.uk and their blog team have posed and offered the answer to one of the big questions on everyones lips at the moment:

Apple iCloud vs. Google Cloud: Aren’t they the same thing?

Well, yes and no. While both services talk about Cloud computing, both actually do it in a subtly different way – and that might make all the difference.

Apple is focused on the device – be that an iPad, an iPhone or an iMac – and iCloud allows you to synchronise all those devices so they each get a copy of your ‘stuff’. This is all done transparently, but the fundamental point here is that each device maintains its own copy, and those copies all get organised by the fat controller in the sky (aka Apple iCloud).

Google on the other hand prefers for all your data to live in the cloud. Permanently. Rather than synchronising, Google would prefer you use your always-on internet connection to access your ‘stuff’ in real-time, across the web.

This is really a utopian vision of the future (See Google Chrome OS), rather than something that works right now (because today’s always-on internet connections aren’t… well… always on), which means that Google devices today employ a combination of synchronisation and live data access.

There’s a noticeable gap between the way Google devices work right now, and how Google tells us things should work.

So that’s the fluffy stuff out the way: Google continues to be visionary but arguably verging on the irrelevant, and Apple remains fixed right in the present, capitalizing on the now – but as a result is (perhaps) at risk of falling behind as we all become better connected.

Storage space

In terms of the tech stuff, there’s little to separate them. Google: 7.6Gb (unless you buy more)Apple iCloud: 5Gb (unless you buy more)
They both cover pretty much the same ‘stuff’, so you can store your mail, calendar, contacts, photos, device settings and documents in the above allowance for free.

Usability

Apple tightly integrates all their key products into one place and gives them a name: iCloud. The branding and execution is paramount, and iOS 5 will capitalise on the one-login approach, meaning that once you’ve entered…

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