I'm a big proponent of local software but the problem with Apple/iPhoto is that everything is stored in a proprietary database.
I think a good compromise is smarts in the cloud vs. local copy. I do this with Google Photos / Google Drive / Synology [1]. Apple does do this to an extent with iCloud but I haven't used that to be able to comment on how well it works.
I don't know why we're both getting downvoted here!
There were other apps similar to iPhoto/Photos like Picassa that were less properietary. But... Google's interests didnt align with the consumer.
Apple loses points for a wonky proprietary format, but their interest in providing the product are in alignment with my interest as a consumer. And if that changes, the software doesn't go away.
The only cloud services that I'm interested in are pure commodity plays like disk, email, etc. Everything else comes with that high transition cost.
I think a good compromise is smarts in the cloud vs. local copy. I do this with Google Photos / Google Drive / Synology [1]. Apple does do this to an extent with iCloud but I haven't used that to be able to comment on how well it works.
[1] https://medium.com/@jmathai/introducing-elodie-your-personal...