Does anyone know if there are any apps out there (or maybe you talented folks can create one!) that can push photos to your devices over wi-fi, like Photo Stream does...but do it in a way that isn't reliant on the cloud? I like Photo Stream, but I think it has some pretty severe limitations that leave the door wide open to 3rd party app developers. Namely:
I think it would be great if you were able to choose photos/videos out of your camera roll (or select one in Finder), maybe do some light editing on it if you wish, and be able to CONSCIOUSLY export them to another device of your choosing. This way, pics of buddies at the football game wouldn't end up on the wife's ipad unless I wanted them to, screenshots for work wouldn't be pushed, etc. It would transfer directly from device to device, without the need for a cloud. OR, you could specify a device as being a "cloud", and have it contain all photos (so they could be stored indefinitely on my 1TB external drives, instead of temporarily with apple). Each device would allow you to see what the other devices contain (maybe with tabs?), so once a photo/video has been pushed, you could easily delete it from any or all of your other devices by deleting it from whatever device you're working on.
After thinking about it, I guess this could even work over 3G for those who may only want to push a small number of photos (or who have unlimited data plans!). What it boils down to is the ability to transmit a photo or video just like you would via Messages, but being able to do so en masse, with light editing, including OS X Lion, and providing a view to what the other devices contain so you could delete, or transfer between devices that you're not using.
Shouldn't be hard...I can provide the wireframes if some plucky programmers want to give it a shot. I love how focused Apple is on user interface simplicity, and having things "just work". However, I think they went a little too far with Photo Stream by taking all user involvement out of the process. The user can't specify what will be pushed, when it will be pushed, if it should only push to certain devices, if some editing is required first, etc. And, there's that 30 day or 1000 photo limit. I think it works for the vast majority of their customer base, so it makes sense from a business perspective. However, there are those of us who want customization, and like to tinker with settings...
I think it would be great if you were able to choose photos/videos out of your camera roll (or select one in Finder), maybe do some light editing on it if you wish, and be able to CONSCIOUSLY export them to another device of your choosing. This way, pics of buddies at the football game wouldn't end up on the wife's ipad unless I wanted them to, screenshots for work wouldn't be pushed, etc. It would transfer directly from device to device, without the need for a cloud. OR, you could specify a device as being a "cloud", and have it contain all photos (so they could be stored indefinitely on my 1TB external drives, instead of temporarily with apple). Each device would allow you to see what the other devices contain (maybe with tabs?), so once a photo/video has been pushed, you could easily delete it from any or all of your other devices by deleting it from whatever device you're working on.
After thinking about it, I guess this could even work over 3G for those who may only want to push a small number of photos (or who have unlimited data plans!). What it boils down to is the ability to transmit a photo or video just like you would via Messages, but being able to do so en masse, with light editing, including OS X Lion, and providing a view to what the other devices contain so you could delete, or transfer between devices that you're not using.
Shouldn't be hard...I can provide the wireframes if some plucky programmers want to give it a shot. I love how focused Apple is on user interface simplicity, and having things "just work". However, I think they went a little too far with Photo Stream by taking all user involvement out of the process. The user can't specify what will be pushed, when it will be pushed, if it should only push to certain devices, if some editing is required first, etc. And, there's that 30 day or 1000 photo limit. I think it works for the vast majority of their customer base, so it makes sense from a business perspective. However, there are those of us who want customization, and like to tinker with settings...
