Apple Launches ICloud With a Hiccup

Apple's iOS 5 and iCloud service launch was far from perfect, leaving many customers with a bad first impression.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company rolled out the update earlier this week, but many users experienced problems during and after the upgrade process. Customers reported trouble syncing their devices after the upgrade, getting locked out of their iCloud e-mail addresses, and overall delays in downloading the OS.

Given the high-profile nature of the iOS 5 update, consumers expected prolonged download times, but glitches in the platform don't look good for Apple. iOS 5's number one new feature in the upgrade is compatibility with iCloud, which Apple touted as being an easy-to-use digital storage system.

The company is establishing iCloud to be a large part of its future. The iPhone maker built a massive data center in North Carolina to support the service, and is hoping to make iCloud a key selling point in its ecosystem of devices. Problems with the launch of iCloud are therefore particularly embarrassing for Apple, and recall the company's botched launch of Mobile Me, its first attempt at a cloud-based service three years ago.

Overwhelming use of Mobile Me crippled the service, which was supposed to link users' e-mail and contacts on the iPhone and Mac, but the service was useless during its first two weeks of release. Former CEO Steve Jobs admitted the launch was not Apple's "finest hour," and put a plan in place to turn the service into something the company could be proud of.

Only time will tell if the initial glitches in the iCloud service repeat the Mobile Me disaster. Either way, the responsibility for managing this issue now falls on new CEO Tim Cook. Whether Cook chooses to address the problem publicly or deal with it in-house, the less-than-stellar launch of iCloud is the first public controversy the new leader has had to deal with without Jobs' aid.

The problems with iCloud may prove to be a minor issue, but they represent the first speed bump for Apple and its new regime.