New iCloud FAQ: Yes, there will be webmail

I doubted from day 1 when TUAW stated that iCloud would do "everything" that MobileMe did. And now we see that TUAW was wrong - iCloud will not do "everything" because several features, including the best one - MobileMe Galleries and its iLife integration - will be missing. I'm disappointed in TUAW for the shoddy reporting, but I'm also disappointed in Apple for the elimination of this excellent feature.

I bought a gen2 Apple TV for my inlaws for the express purpose of sharing photos & videos with them via my MobileMe account. After the announcement that the Gallery feature will not be supported, I signed up for Flickr and YouTube accounts, and the experience there is nowhere near as good as it was with MobileMe. I sure hope Apple reconsiders this decision. I would hate to see this awesome feature disappear.

"Syncing of [...] keychains [...] will not be part of iCloud" Does this mean I have to pay for something like 1password? Would you guys recommend it? Is the extra functionality worth $39.99?

I don't understand why Apple can't maintain the iDisk as well as the Cloud storage options. My iDisk is full of files not created using Apple software (so won't be compatible with Documents in iCloud) that I regularly use in my work as a teacher. iDisk worked for me in the way that I could edit those files on many different machines, save my work to the iDisk and not have to worry about always carrying a flash drive or having to keep track of which version I had updated last.
Now I will have to use other services out there (Dropbox being the most popular example), instead of using an Apple product. So Apple are turning away from a working system for what benefit? Where is the marketing sense in making their loyal users have to go elsewhere for a service that was working just fine?

I will miss Gallery as it was very handy from Aperture or iPhoto. Friends and relatives will now have broken links to old Galleries.

Similarly, I used my iDisk space for storing photos that were linked to various online photo discussion forums. Now years of posts to those forums will have broken links and my photos will vanish, with no way of creating a redirect, thanks a bunch!

Yes there are alternatives now (non Apple) , but this doesn't help where we have links that will now be permanently broken.

Apple should reconsider as this penalises those who paid for their service for all those years.

I understand the discontinuation of MobileMe and iWeb etc. But does that mean that Apple is NOT going to have another web authoring app?

IWe've started working on an easy hosting site for iWeb users. It will support FTP upload and CNAME custom domain mapping so it's just a simple switch at your domain registrar. You can get early invites at http://iwebhost.me.

This officially puts an end to the discussion about the future of iWeb.

Apple wouldn't be forgetting to provide an alternative hosting environment for it unless it was going to be discontinued.

iWeb is dead.

@DR - I don't think it'll be a bust. iTunes in the cloud is already functioning - buy a song or album and it automatically appears on your computer and other iDevices. Nice - no need to cable-sync.

As for iDisk, I suppose I'm ok with losing it so long as I can create a document on my PC and have it accessible on my iPhone/iPad. I do this frequently at work - create a .DOC, work on it, and then use iDisk to move it to iPad for editing and then back to the PC. The wording on the Documents-in-the-Cloud page makes it sound as if this will still be possible, through automatic syncing. I suppose I could deal with that. Even better would be if the iWorks apps included burned-in support for DropBox, in the same way that it currently does for iDisk.

Apple got rid of the services I use (personal domains, web hosting, and galleries) and replaced them with services I have no interest in. Boo Apple.

I really don't get the appeal of music in the cloud. I have my iPhone with me all of the time with all of my music on it. What do I gain with music in the cloud? Seems more like Apple wanting to get on the cloud bandwagon.

Oh, I meant to add one more thing regarding long-time users of Apple services. That we are given the option of either canceling our MobileMe accounts for prorated refunds, thus losing the e-mail addresses we have relied on for years, or else paying a nice fat fee for services that everyone else will receive for free is, frankly, a slap in the face. Apple should be offering additional storage or free iTunes in the Cloud or *something* to say thanks to its loyal customers.