Kevin Bostic
Apple is now limiting access to its iWork for iCloud beta, citing an "overwhelming response" to the iCloud-enabled productivity suite.
The new restrictions on access to the iWork beta appear to stretch across the entire productivity suite, with Pages, Keynote, and Numbers all informing users of the aforementioned "overwhelming response." Users are asked to "check back soon" on when the service might become available for them, and in the meantime, they are still able to store presentations on iCloud.
Apple's notice gives no notice on when the service might become more widely available.
Since rolling out the beta, Apple has been gradually expanding access to the service to users. Shortly after iWork for iCloud's public debut, the company began making it available to some non-developers. In mid-July, Apple opened iWork for iCloud to non-developers, sending out invites to a number of potential participants.
First announced at this year's Worldwide Developer Conference, iWork for iCloud is meant to take apple's productivity suite to another level, offering access not only on Macs, but also on Windows PCs running Google's Chrome browser, Internet Explorer, or Apple's Safari. The suite reproduces most of the functionality of Apple's existing desktop iWork offerings, but with the added portability enabled by being browser-based.
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
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William Gallagher
19 Comments
Works fine at my end, both on www.iCloud.com and [URL=http://beta.icloud.com]beta.icloud.com[/URL] edit: sure hope this is not a signal thy can't handle the traffic to their Maps app once 10.9 is released. That one will get hammered way more severely.
[quote name="PhilBoogie" url="/t/159206/overwhelming-response-leads-to-apple-limiting-iwork-for-icloud-com-access#post_2385361"]Works fine at my end, both on www.iCloud.com and [URL=http://beta.icloud.com]beta.icloud.com[/URL][/quote] But you were already "in" weren't you? I think this applies to new users, not those already using the beta.
Good News: There is a lot of interest! Bad News: The iCloud infrastructure can't handle it!
Good News: There is a lot of interest!
Bad News: The iCloud infrastructure can't handle it!
yet.
Google has been kicking ass on the cloud since 98. Apple is "young" but is catching up pretty fast.
The new datacenters will be ready. Just wait, watch and enjoy.
[quote name="Dick Applebaum" url="/t/159206/overwhelming-response-leads-to-apple-limiting-iwork-for-icloud-com-access#post_2385375"]Good News: There is a lot of interest! Bad News: The iCloud infrastructure can't handle it![/quote] I think that Apple had low expectations for iWork on icloud to begin with (seems like they always have low expectations of their productivity suite). So yes demand outstripped Apple's expectations, but we don't know if that was quantifiably a big number of users. I'm thinking it wasn't.