It's not free. You must own an iDevice or a Mac to use iCloud and worse if you pay for one device you get 5gig. If you pay for 2 you don't get another 5gig
iCloud's free* now, actually. It became a free service when they transitioned away from the MobileMe branding.
* You need a Mac or iOS device to join, though. And you can pay for additional storage if you want ($20, $40, or $100 per year), but that's not necessary.
iCloud isn't totally free -- it just has a free tier. Charging $20/year for an additional 10 GB of storage is pretty on par with Dropbox's $99.00/year for 50 GB. Seems like that revenue model is working for Dropbox... so why not iCloud?
This might not be the right crowd, but iCloud is really the un-clunky storage accessible from everywhere. It's just so well integrated between the phone, macbook, ipad, web. Worth it. I spend like $9-10 per month for 2TB of storage. with auto sync of my photos (which is where it really shines)
Not only is there a free tier, but the iPhone defaults are cleverly configured so that you quickly fill it up with random junk on your phone, and feel pressured into paying for more iCloud storage, because the default sync behavior is so non-obvious, and the settings to disable it are buried.
I know multiple people (most of them in their 50s or older) who started paying for iCloud because they thought it was their only option.
and that's the thing. i just recently had to deal with an iphone owner who had backups enabled. but his 6 gb of photos just don't fit on the standard 5gb free icloud storage. ppl just don't want to pay for backup space. now imagine ppl with 256gb phones. they are supposed to pump even more ridiculous amounts of money into tim's ass just for storage.
don't get me wrong. in general i think apple's prices are justified. but icloud storage with ppl having backup enabled by default ist just one giant rip-off.
The statement you're quibbling with — "free-of-charge online services ad-free" — is unassailable. Anyone signing up for iCloud with the intention of using it for data sync (contacts, calendars, browser bookmarks), and/or application data, and/or the ability to track, lock, and wipe lost devices, will be hard-pressed to exceed the free 5GB.
Sure, iTunes Match or syncing several devices directly to iCloud might induce a heavy user to pay for more, but iCloud remains a bona-fide free service for the vast majority of its customers.
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