I could not agree more, the whole iPhone, iPhoto (mac), photo stream situation actually confuses the hell out of me. We're generally smart people on HN and if we don't get, try explaining it to parents and it's a whole world of confusion - normally ending with "You suggested we buy Apple because it was simple to use". My only reply at the moment is "Yeah, I know ... it's complicated".

To anyone making closed ecosystem comments, it's even harder to explain how to do any of this photo management to a parent (the dominant market with disposable income at the moment) with Android and Dropbox.

There really is no way back from "So wait, your telling me Google is IN my phone and so people can search my photos?"