7 ms·

> Well the fundamental idea behind iPhoto is: why would you care where it put your files at all? As you say, it's not just iPhoto - it's a big part of the iVil

> Well the fundamental idea behind iPhoto is: why would you care where it put your files at all? As you say, it's not just iPhoto - it's a big part of the iVillage. Certainly some people - not just geeks - like this approach, but I find it patronizing ("Don't worry your pretty little head about where we store the files.") and authoritarian ("You may not delete the Pictures folder from your home folder or give it an alternative name.") all at the same time. Long story short, I shouldn't have to open an application to grab one file. I should be able to use the file explorer. Apple seems to go out of its way to make that harder for me.

masklinn 16y ago
> Certainly some people - not just geeks - like this approach I would argue that non-geeks are, in fact, far more likely to enjoy this approach than geeks. > I find it patronizing ("Don't worry your pretty little head about where we store the files.") Well except it's easy to know where they're stored. > and authoritarian ("You may not delete the Pictures folder from your home folder or give it an alternative name.") all at the same time. And this one is utterly bonkers: it's an open not-secret-at-all that iTunes and iPhoto let you move, create switch library by pressing Option as you start them. > Long story short, I shouldn't have to open an application to grab one file. I should be able to use the file explorer. You are. It's not like the file is stored in a secret binary database. > Apple seems to go out of its way to make that harder for me. Whatever.
- telemachos 16y ago
  > Well except it's easy to know where they're stored. Sure, I can control-click the folder, select "Show Package Contents" (?!? an obvious way to say "open this folder"), open the directory named "Originals" and then drill down into the year-stamped folders until I find my albums. But clearly Apple doesn't want me doing that. Otherwise, the photo library would work like all the normal folders. I could simply double click to open it and view its contents. This is all I meant by "Apple goes out of its way to make this harder."
  - tvon 16y ago
    So, "drag and drop" out of iPhoto isn't what you want, and you don't want to just use the "open file" dialog from another OSX app (since that lets you access all parts of the iPhoto library), and then you don't like how you have to click down a few folders once you do use "show package contents"? The only person going out of their way to make this difficult is you. FFS, Apple is far from perfect, but the things you're complaining about have pretty simple answers.
    - telemachos 16y ago
      Let's imagine I use a Mac. I open Gmail and I want to send my father a cute picture of his niece. There's no direct way to do this without leaving the application I'm in (Safari) and going somewhere else to get at the picture. By contrast, if this were a Pages document, I could simply click on "Attach a file" and then browse to the folder where the document lives. In the case of iPhoto and iTunes, this feature - file browsing - is simply not as straightfoward. I don't think that's up for debate. You are free to suggest ways that I can get at the photo (through iPhoto, through another OSX app), but I can't browse to the item the way that I can browse to other files on my filesystem. > The only person going out of their way to make this difficult is you. I really don't see how. I want something perfectly normal: I want "Attach a file" to work. In many cases, with many Apple programs, it does. But in a number of other cases (iPhoto, iTunes), it does not. This is not my fault. I am not doing anything special or nerdy or geeky here.
      - tvon 16y ago
        > There's no direct way to do this (...) Ah, but you can access anything in iPhoto in the "open file" dialog that opens up when you go to attach a file in gmail. It's in the left sidebar under "media", from there you can get to anything in iPhoto organized in the same way they are in iPhoto (here is a screenshot: http://civicit.com/~tvon/files/osx-open-file.png http://civicit.com/~tvon/files/osx-open-file.png). Obviously though, you didn't find this, and I can see how that could be a bit obtuse if you expect to browse "Pictures" and find a bunch of image files.
      - 16y ago
deleted 16y ago
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whiskers 16y ago
"Don't worry your pretty little head about where we store the files." It's just a different type/style of abstraction that may not be suited to you! All file systems essentially hide the nasty details of where and how files are stored (which inode does it start at, is it fragmented across multiple sectors, which physical device?). From a UX point of view there is a lot to be said for not treating every single file in exactly the same way. I'm sure it's an approach that will get more and more prevalent in future (context relevant functionality for the types of files you're currently interacting with/managing).

masklinn 16y ago

> Certainly some people - not just geeks - like this approach I would argue that non-geeks are, in fact, far more likely to enjoy this approach than geeks. > I find it patronizing ("Don't worry your pretty little head about where we store the files.") Well except it's easy to know where they're stored. > and authoritarian ("You may not delete the Pictures folder from your home folder or give it an alternative name.") all at the same time. And this one is utterly bonkers: it's an open not-secret-at-all that iTunes and iPhoto let you move, create switch library by pressing Option as you start them. > Long story short, I shouldn't have to open an application to grab one file. I should be able to use the file explorer. You are. It's not like the file is stored in a secret binary database. > Apple seems to go out of its way to make that harder for me. Whatever.

telemachos 16y ago
> Well except it's easy to know where they're stored. Sure, I can control-click the folder, select "Show Package Contents" (?!? an obvious way to say "open this folder"), open the directory named "Originals" and then drill down into the year-stamped folders until I find my albums. But clearly Apple doesn't want me doing that. Otherwise, the photo library would work like all the normal folders. I could simply double click to open it and view its contents. This is all I meant by "Apple goes out of its way to make this harder."
- tvon 16y ago
  So, "drag and drop" out of iPhoto isn't what you want, and you don't want to just use the "open file" dialog from another OSX app (since that lets you access all parts of the iPhoto library), and then you don't like how you have to click down a few folders once you do use "show package contents"? The only person going out of their way to make this difficult is you. FFS, Apple is far from perfect, but the things you're complaining about have pretty simple answers.
  - telemachos 16y ago
    Let's imagine I use a Mac. I open Gmail and I want to send my father a cute picture of his niece. There's no direct way to do this without leaving the application I'm in (Safari) and going somewhere else to get at the picture. By contrast, if this were a Pages document, I could simply click on "Attach a file" and then browse to the folder where the document lives. In the case of iPhoto and iTunes, this feature - file browsing - is simply not as straightfoward. I don't think that's up for debate. You are free to suggest ways that I can get at the photo (through iPhoto, through another OSX app), but I can't browse to the item the way that I can browse to other files on my filesystem. > The only person going out of their way to make this difficult is you. I really don't see how. I want something perfectly normal: I want "Attach a file" to work. In many cases, with many Apple programs, it does. But in a number of other cases (iPhoto, iTunes), it does not. This is not my fault. I am not doing anything special or nerdy or geeky here.
    - tvon 16y ago
      > There's no direct way to do this (...) Ah, but you can access anything in iPhoto in the "open file" dialog that opens up when you go to attach a file in gmail. It's in the left sidebar under "media", from there you can get to anything in iPhoto organized in the same way they are in iPhoto (here is a screenshot: http://civicit.com/~tvon/files/osx-open-file.png http://civicit.com/~tvon/files/osx-open-file.png). Obviously though, you didn't find this, and I can see how that could be a bit obtuse if you expect to browse "Pictures" and find a bunch of image files.
    - 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

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whiskers 16y ago

"Don't worry your pretty little head about where we store the files." It's just a different type/style of abstraction that may not be suited to you! All file systems essentially hide the nasty details of where and how files are stored (which inode does it start at, is it fragmented across multiple sectors, which physical device?). From a UX point of view there is a lot to be said for not treating every single file in exactly the same way. I'm sure it's an approach that will get more and more prevalent in future (context relevant functionality for the types of files you're currently interacting with/managing).