Dorchester — Feb 10th 2015
Mick then gave a talk on iCloud and iCloud Drive, the main distinction being that the former is mainly used to synchronise files automatically (e.g. Contacts, dates) whereas the latter is intended to store files. In this respect, iCloud Drive has much in common with apps such as Dropbox, but is, in some ways, at least at present, more limited than Dropbox in terms of the services provided.
Mick demonstrated how to set up iCloud Drive on the Mac, and also on iOS devices, and how to access the stored data. iCloud Drive, by default, creates folders for files created by the Mac Apps; the user can create additional folders. However, note that Time Machine does not back up the default folders; only those created by the user.
David spoke on the subject of DVD’s, and gave a number of reasons why these may be becoming obsolescent, with the advent of networks and Cloud storage. He did, however identify one area in which they are still very suitable: for displays of films and photos on TV sets using a DVD player. There are alternatives, but DVD’s have the advantage of simplicity, and, it was argued that Apple’s ceasing to promote iDVD was, to say the least, premature. Euan then demonstrated this by demonstrating what could be done using iDVD. Those who were anticipating a Norway - fest at this point were disappointed, but members appeared motivated to explore the possibilities offered by iDVD.
Euan spoke briefly about SSD memory, following his presentation at the previous Dorchester meeting. There appear to be two characteristics of SSD memory which should be recognised. The first is that when they fail, it is a sudden process, unlike normal disc drives. Hence it is impossible, or at least, very difficult to recover any data from a failed SSD, which points up the need for frequent backing up. Secondly, SSD’s are not long lived if they are used to repeatedly store, and then erase large quantities of data frequently.
Ann then demonstrated how Address Book (or Contacts) can be used to input details from a spreadsheet for a list of people and their addresses, and then prepare address labels to send e.g. Christmas cards to those people.
In the Q&A session,
• there was discussion of AirParrot, which allows wireless streaming of displays and media files from a Mac to e.g. Apple TV.
• iPhoto Manager was recommended as a means of merging two iPhoto libraries
• interchanging two lines of addresses in Contacts was identified as a ‘known bug’
• as BT’s email had used Yahoo, but does not now do so, the transition is apparently causing some confusion and errors when implementing it on the iPhone.
SR
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