The recent camera news has all been interesting and even a bit tantalizing. High resolution captures. Possibly connected cameras. iPads with better than HD screens. Cloud image storage that pushes to any device you'd like. In an ideal world, putting all those things together would make me very happy.
We don't live in an ideal world. Consider this scenario: I put an 8GB EyeFi card in my D800's SD slot and capture images to my iPad. At the settings I use, that's 103 images. Now, my iPad is used for more than just photos. It's got apps, books, references, sketches, mockups, databases, contacts, calendar, and usually a movie or two on it. Even with my 64GB iPad it's rare that I have 16GB of free space. So two D800 card's (8GB) worth of images, or 206 images.
Now the 206 images sit over on my iPad. That's not really where I eventually want them. They should just migrate to the cloud automatically in the best of worlds. The software to do that isn't all there yet. But we run into another problem: 16GB is 12GB more than my data plan allows in a month, let alone in the day or two I'd take 206 images.
Thus, my images have to wait until I've got a reliable WiFi connection to move off the iPad. Of course, when I get back to the hotel or office or wherever I've got WiFi, I need to do some other things on the Internet, so the downloads steal some (maybe all) of my bandwidth. If you've used WiFi at hotels/airports/etc., you'll know what I'm talking about: the shared bandwidth you get is usually good enough for slow, casual Web browsing and email, but guaranteed to frustrate you if you try moving big files.
Yes, this is a US centric view of the world. There are parts of the world where bandwidth is more reliable, but there's still usually the issue of cost.
The bad news is that the camera companies and the photo software companies don't really have any say in what happens in that "in between" world (the wireless world between our cameras and our computers). Worse still, the mantra of the service economy, which does define that world, is fees, fees, fees. Preferably big fees for little actual service, with tack-on fees for more services.
So let's see, I've got an Internet provider, a mobile wireless provider, a cloud provider, and more all wanting a monthly tithe (plus overages). No wonder I prefer to do my workflow manually.
Still, we can't change the world for the better unless we can dream up that better world. That's how those of us who were involved in the emergence of Silicon Valley in the 70's and 80's thought: dream of a better future, then try to invent the things that make it real.
The problem, of course, is that you can dream ahead of reality. That's where we are today. Quite frankly, anyone who thinks the communications infrastructure in the US is good, let alone optimal, is having a different kind of dream: delusion. We got to our duopoly and oligopoly mess under the mantra of "free enterprise." Sorry, but it's a loosely regulated oligopoly at best, and oligopolies aren't good at anything other than increasing the money coming to them.
For we photographers to get what we need, we require what we used to have in the FCC: an agency that regulates a restricted resource for the public good, not for the business good. In the current political environment, that won't ever happen, so getting to the dream is going to take longer than it should, and the dream is going to be watered down (and expensive) when it arrives. At least here in the US.