How Ease the Transition of Moving from MobileMe to iCloud and Alternative Solutions

While it's no secret that I'm not a fan of Apple's closed eco-system, that is not to say that I cannot acknowledge their dominanace in this industry to the average consumer.

Unfortunately, from .mac to MobileMe to iCloud, Apple just can't seem to get it right.  The problem is that none of these services are compatible with each other, forcing users to start all over again from scratch every time.

Since I don't own an iPhone or a Mac, I'd like to thank the good folks over at Gizmodo for providing users with a step-by-step guide on how to make the transition as painless as possible, which, needless to say, is still painful and time-consuming.

To those of you willing to take the pludge, just click on the link below:

Unraveling the MobileMess of the MobileMe to iCloud Migration

However, I would just to remind everyone that this chaos is why this blog exists.  I want to give you alternatives that don't rely on proprietary formats.  Apple may make the process simpler, but that doesn't mean it's the best solution.  Personally, I'd recommend going with any of the following alternatives...

For syncing contacts:

• Google Sync (built-in to iOS)
• Soocial.com
• Plaxo.com
• my.funambol.com

For syncing calendars:

• Google Sync
• my.funambol.com
• Or a cloud-based application service like Tungle

For storing photos:

• Flickr
• Picasa
• my.funambol.com

For playing cloud-based music:

• Google Music
• Amazon's Cloud Player
• SugarSync
• Spotify

Yes, I realize these solutions are not the "all-in-one" that Apple promises with iCloud, but they do give you control over your own data; and that's what I'm here to help you achieve.