New and Confused

[teresawade]

I just purchased an iPad and am trying to get all set up with my PC, iPhone and iPad with the iCloud. I think I have gone through the steps as instructed, but can't figure out how to view my iCloud files to understand what is there, how to organize, etc.

I am specifically interested in integrating the Docs to Go app so I can get my PC docs on my iPad. Surely this isn't rocket science and others have experienced and conquered this challenge. Please help!

 

[SweetPoison]

Welcome!

Ya know ~ I bet it is rocket science. It all is, IMO! But we have many great folks that will assist you. I am going to move your thread to our iPad Help section.

Hang in there!

 

[twerppoet]

iCloud isn't a traditional cloud service like DropBox or Box. It doesn't offer generic file storage and retrieval (at least not yet). If you need that you are better off getting the those accounts and apps.

iCloud's main strength (for now) is syncing Apple's apps between iOS devices. You don't access iCloud directly. Instead each app that uses it accesses it's own file space. Some apps may let you look at that space and manage it, most are simply transparent. The storage looks exactly the same as if the files were stored locally, and in some cases (most) they are both local and in the cloud; for maximum availablity while still being able to sync. That's how the iWorks apps do their thing. For what it does, it's quite good. It just doesn't do what you want.

Third party apps can also take advantage of iCloud to store, retrieve, and sync files; but just like on the iPad itself they are limited to their own file space. Only a few apps (like GoodReader) have started to take advantage of this, so where it will lead, who knows?

In the mean time, the old cloud services are still king of the file sharing hill. DropBox integrates very nicely with Docs to Go and almost any other device (including most computer OS's). I recommend you keep using it, or get the free account and try it if you aren't.