Sorry for being so dense but I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around this whole iCloud thing. I get at least part of it, the first part where your stuff is uploaded to the "cloud" and is then accessible to your other idevices. What I'm less sure about is what's actually happening on the other end when your stuff is being accessed. Is it being physically downloaded onto the other devices or is it just being temporarily accessed or streamed? Like most people I have all my music in iTunes on my PC and now downloaded onto my iPad. Now, if I use iCloud to access that music on my new iPhone (when I get it that is) that hasn't actually had the music from the PC synched to it, is it also being physically downloaded onto it and thus taking up physical space? Or is it just "there" during the time it's being played?

The other thing I wonder about is when you're somewhere where there's no wifi or 3G access, a plane for instance, or in a foreign country like China. If you don't have your music or pics or documents actually on your device I assume you're SOL? If that's the case then aren't people who buy iPads or iPhones etc. with less storage because they plan to use the iCloud making a mistake? Aren't they just better off putting all their music etc. on a new device right from the beginning and forgetting about iCloud?

I ask all this because nearly every article or FAQ I've read about iCloud makes reference to your data being sent to the cloud from wherever you purchase it and then downloaded automatically onto your other devices. As I understand "downloading" it means actually being put on the device's storage space as opposed to streaming which is not taking up that space. Am I misunderstanding how all this works or are all these people describing what iCloud does using misleading terminology?

I know I must be missing something here right? I just don't know enough to be able to figure out what it is.

You are right - the data, music, videos etc - will be downloaded onto your device when you're in contact with the Internet, so it would be available if you're later out of contact - on a plane, for instance. Of course, you can choose which content you want to sync if you don't want it all.

Tim

Originally Posted by Tim SPRACKLEN

You are right - the data, music, videos etc - will be downloaded onto your device when you're in contact with the Internet, so it would be available if you're later out of contact - on a plane, for instance. Of course, you can choose which content you want to sync if you don't want it all.

Tim

Thanks Tim. So if I put all my music on my iPhone or iPad directly from the PC then I'd be using iCloud essentially as a backup correct?