And it's not that necessary now; since 2011, iCloud has meant you can back up and restore from the cloud, though minimal storage on older iPhones makes iTunes necessary to install big operating system updates.
Apple has taken a similar route with its iCloud accounts and the upcoming Continuity feature between iPads, iPhones and Mac computers – although its iOS software on the iPhone and OS X on the desktop have been kept separate.
Cloud services: all of the ones based in the US and the UK (including Dropbox, iCloud and Evernote) are open to surveillance, so encrypt information you don't want to share.
iCloud is going to be good… Just as with the iOS4/iPhone 4 release, Apple is releasing the next version of iOS two days ahead of the iPhone 4S so that its servers won't conk out.
The "whitening" setting gives a satisfying rev while the soft "sensitive" brush head makes my teeth feel like they're being buffed by cherubs who live on the iCloud.
I spent the next two hours in a state of denial, checking and rechecking every folder on my computer, Dropbox and iCloud with no luck.
The ability to have your pictures and documents and apps synchronised without the tedious plugging and unplugging of wires is going to be a great relief to millions – and iCloud is applicable for phones back to the iPhone 3GS from 2009, and iPod Touches released after that period too.
You could connect your smartphone to a cloud service that lets you "remote wipe" if need be – but control what you sync up to iCloud if you wish to remain truly private.
A clean, clear design and the ability to pull in your iCloud calendar data make it a handy replacement for the default iOS calendar app.
Apple's iCloud is considered the most ambitious attempt yet to create a broad-based consumer service that lets people keep information and content up to date on numerous devices.
What then?One path through the thicket, raised by Justice Sotomayor and pushed by Michael Dreeben, the deputy solicitor general, would be to permit police to access only data stored on the phone itself rather than what's on the "cloud", or as she put it, using Apple's proprietary nomenclature, "the iCloud".
