Is Flickr A Better Mac Solution Than iPhoto?

There is no shortage of ways that our digital lives can find to separate us from our money. iPhoto only costs a new Mac or an iLife purchase.

Flickr is free. Is that a better photo management solution for Mac users?

Yahoo bought Flickr for a reason. Millions of people visit the site to view photos, others to manage their photos online.

At the basic level, Flickr isn’t really competition for iPhoto. After all, if we’re Mac users and bought a Mac in recent years, we have iPhoto.

Flickr is also basic photo management that’s online. Shoot your photos, stick them on your Mac, upload to Flickr. Manage.

What you get at the basic level is your own online web page to show off your photos for all the world to see.

iPhoto will do that but you have to cough up $100 a year for a .Mac account.

People who visit your photo collection online at Flickr can leave comments on every photo you upload. Like that’ll happen.

Flickr doesn’t limit your photo sizes, either—go large, medium, small, thumbnail, rotations and more.

You can even set privacy levels for each photo and determine who gets to see what photos. 

There are some photos that just won’t do for public consumption.

For example, when you’ve given birth three times, gained 20 pounds with each, and insist on a bikini at the pool.

Flickr can be set to receive and store photos via email and from your camera phone.

iPhoto and Flickr are not Apples to apples. In fact, they’re highly complementary.

Flickr allows your friends and family members to leave notes and tags on your Flickr photos.

There are Mac utilities that make Flickr work even better. For example, there’s FlickrExporter for iPhoto.

Part with $22 and your iPhoto photos are more easily integrated with your Flickr account.

There’s also FlickrFrame—a nifty Dashboard Widget that lets you see your Flickr photos on your Mac.

We’re fast approaching the holiday season and digital cameras and digital photos will abound once again.

Since Flickr is a part of Yahoo, you can use your Yahoo account to set up and get started.

The question is, will you? Does Flickr, even at the basic free, give you value? Do you use Flickr? If so, why? If not, why not?