I'm about to purchase an iPhone 4S primarily for business purposes. I'm concerned about how safe my business communications (email & texting) will be if I use iCloud and the synchronization service to keep my MacPro and iPhone synchronized. Does anyone have experience with how companies handle this issue?

Does the iCloud also synchronize all documents such as Excel, Word, InDesign, etc. from the MacPro to the iPhone? If so, the largest capacity iPhone would be swamped with the stuff from my MacPro. From looking at the Apple Store ads, it appears that documents are not routinely synchronized. Is that true or am I misreading it?

The documents are stored in the cloud rather than on your iPhone or Mac. They are downloaded to your device only when you open them for reading or editing.

Can I control what documents go to the iCloud and which ones do not go? I want to keep everything on my MacPro, but store a few documents on the iCloud. Will this work?

In System Preferences > iCloud on the Mac and Settings > iCloud on the iPhone and iPad you can select which applications will use iCloud from among the following...

• Mail
• Contacts (Addressbook)
• Calendars (iCal)
• Reminders (a separate app from calendar on the iPhone and iPad)
• Bookmarks (Safari of course)
• Notes (Stickies)
• Photo Stream
• Documents and Data
• Find my iPhone/iPad/Mac

When using Pages, Numbers, or Keynote the user must make the decision on whether to store the document(s) on iCloud or on the computer. SInce the iPhone and iPad have no data file system per se data storage on those devices is in the form of open documents in the app. Files are saved on iCloud. There are several other third party apps such as ByWord that can make use of iCloud data storage, in fact some of those third party apps are almost pointless without iCloud. But in general you have pretty much full control over what goes into the cloud. You probably do not want to physically store much data on the iPhone/iPad itself because of the limited storage space, not to mention the possibility of complete data loss in the unlikely event of a crash.

ITunes has an option to store your tunes on iCloud as well. If they are available in iTunes the tunes files are physically located in the iTunes Store database so they occupy virtually zero space on your iPhone, iPad, or your iCloud account.

A final personal note, be sure to purchase a cover/case that protects the corners. The glass on the face and back is incredibly tough (I accidentally ran over an iPhone and it survived without ill effect) but dropped another that landed on a corner and the glass face broke from that corner. And don't forget the Applecare. It won't cover a dropped iPhone or one that a teenager had in his pocket when he jumped into the swimming pool, but still well worth the cost.

JMB:

Thank you for the excellent and most timely advice. I'm just heading out the door to make the purchase. I had not planned to get a cover/case, but you've changed my mind. Again, thank you. I've also decided I'd better get Lion although I really like 10.6.8. This is going to be a day of intense learning and, hopefully, some fun. Best regards.

actually, Applecare+ now covers accidents and water damage.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/S4575LL/A#overview

After 11 days of messing with iCloud, I've decided to shut it off and sync with iTunes for the following reasons:

1. I am losing enormous amounts of time fiddling with iCloud. For me, time is money. I'm not getting a return on my investment of time and I don't need a lot of the things it provides.

2. By watching the synchronization process, It appears to my untrained eye that the heavy duty synchronization work is being handled by Wi-Fi. My ISP, Verizon, seems to handle the email, phone calls and much of the web surfing, but the heavy duty synchronization seems to be limited to when I have access to Wi-Fi.

3. I've had a lingering concern about the ultimate security of iCloud. I have no personal knowledge that would enable me to make an informed decision, but it hasn't been on the market long enough to enable us unskilled users to make a judgment.

I want to thank you folks who have given me such great advice. I'm loving the iPhone 4S. As an added bonus, I have been very surprised at the quality of the camera. I move the images to PhotoShop and, with very little adjustment, the photos are just plain gorgeous.