[apunic]

Lock-in.

A huge photo collection is the best lock-in for an OS. So to have a top-notch app here is a smart move from Apple.

I have like 70GB of photos in iPhoto and somehow this stops me from fully migrating to another OS. Just the thought of moving this 70GB to another file system, OS and photo program let me stick to OSX forever. And photos especially the family ones are maybe the most important 'personal' data of a user.

Besides, iPhoto is not bad but the many format changes in the past were a bit tiring.

In general I prefer Dropbox as a cloud file storage--they have the best clients of all OSes and security features like no other (remote wipe), now I just need a cross platform photo database which is separated from my cloud storage provider.

[tvon]

I don't see how this is lock-in, unless they have somehow crippled the exporting feature. It seems like the only thing preventing you from moving that 70GB of photos is a lack of motivation.

[ryanmarsh]

Lock-in, as in a lock I can't unlock? As in I can't get my photos out if I want? It's only lock-in if you want to leave and you can't.

I'll be as locked into this as I'm locked into my favorite scotch. I can switch, but why?

I really don't get the lock-in argument. I like Apple's stuff, all of it. It works really well for me. I'm the happiest I've ever been with my computer environment. If Apple starts to suck I'll find something else, as will many other people and some enterprising fellow will see that and create something great. Better yet maybe Dropbox will up their game to compete with Apple on photo storage. Rising tide etc etc.

[Someone]

With iPhoto, you can easily move your photos elsewhere, but moving the metadata with it (what photo is in what album, recognized faces, etc) is another thing.

I call that a form of lock-in.

[prawn]

It creates/enables inertia rather than locks you in, I think that's what they're saying.

[ryanmarsh]

Inertia a.k.a. reasons for people to like and therefore stick with your product. How dare they.

[prawn]

No, it's clearly different to that, and to pure lock in. (And I wasn't offering judgement either way, just trying to help explain the other comment.)

[jseliger]

A huge photo collection is the best lock-in for an OS. So to have a top-notch app here is a smart move from Apple.

On the other hand, pretty much anyone who once used Aperture has moved to Lightroom after feeling the effects of Apple's enthusiasm followed by Apple's indifference. Presumably whoever is making an iPhoto (or whatever) equivalent on Windows will write an import feature that imports whatever format or formats Apple uses.

I want to be enthusiastic, but I've seen one too many Apple initiatives dropped to get real excited. I've also seen iPhoto libraries corrupted and heard the screams when it happens.