IPhoto Library in open dialog boxes

Question

Does the Mac community agree with me that this needs to be better implemented in Mac OS X for new Mac users?
As the owner of a Mac consulting company in Los Angeles, we have switched about 30 people from PC to Mac this year.
However, we have encountered a big problem that almost every "newbie Mac user" has when they first switch to the Mac. This is the #1 problem that we encounter with most "newbie" Mac users:
There is no way to access the iPhoto library from within a standard open dialog box!
So, week after week, we're witnessing users who have used webmail for years, and aren't quite ready to make the leap to Apple Mail yet. So when they go to attach photos to an outgoing email in their webmail program (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo), they'll get an "open" dialog box but absolutely no way of browsing their iPhoto Library in an easy-to-use manner!
Oh sure, they'll try to click around in their "Pictures" folder inside the "iPhoto Library" folder, but as you know, that folder makes no organizational sense to mere mortals, and is nowhere NEAR the Mac experience that it should be! Even with the improvements in iPhoto 6, that "iPhoto Library" folder still makes no sense.
So eventually, we tell them that they have to (a) drag their photos from iPhoto onto their desktop or export them if they want them to be a smaller size, (b) attach the files on their desktop from within their open dialog box, and (c) trash the photos from their desktop afterwards.
But this is too confusing for new Mac users, particularly when it's already much better integrated on Windows, the platform they just switched from!
New users should be able to **VISUALLY BROWSE** their iPhoto Library right from within any open dialog box, just like you can currently browse your iPhoto Library when you click on the "Media" button inside Pages or Keynote or iWeb or Comic Life.
Some companies like Snapfish.com have actually addressed this limitation on Apple's behalf, by creating plug-ins for Safari that actually let you browse your iphoto library right from your open dialog box! This is how it SHOULD BE! It's simple as pie, and Snapfish.com should be commended for making up for this serious lack of intuitiveness on Apple's part.
But Apple really needs to step up to the plate and do this for its users, instead of depending on a few companies here & there to make up for this limitation.
Of course, we try to get as many new users as possible to use Apple's Mail program for complete integration with their system, but it's just not feasible right off the bat in all cases. For example, if they're a Yahoo webmail user or a HotMail user, it would cost them at least $24.95/year just to get POP access to their email. And regardless of what webmail system they use, not everybody is going to want to switch right away to a dedicated email client.
Apple really needs to help new users have a great time when switching to the Mac, instead of confusing them, by really thinking these things through and really WATCHING new users in the field struggling with their Macs for the first time. Then, Apple can see that there's little things like this that can make all the difference for someone new to the Mac.
Thank you,
Scott
Power Mac G4 QuickSilver Dual 800 MHz   Mac OS X (10.4.7)  

Answer 1

Scott:
Here are two sites, one a thread in the AD and the other a GMail site, on how to use Gmail via the Mail application:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=580746&tstart=0
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=13275
This is plugin to be able to access any web based mail that supports the HTTPMail protocol (HotMail and MSN mail at the time of the plugins creation. I'm sure more by now:
http://www.automagic-software.com/products.php
and how to make it work with intel Macs:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060606023130948&query=Hotmail
I've not used any of these but you can certainly test them so see if they are as as advertised.
If a user needs a file via the Finder for a web based email he can Command-click on a thumbnail and select the Show File Contextual menu item. The user will be taken to that folder in the Finder and the file will already be selected. However these will be the full sized files and may be larger than the user wants to send.
The problem with encouraging users to visually browse and access files in the library folder via the Finder or some browser is that they may be inclined to rename, move or edit them via the Finder or browser an that is committing the cardinal sin of iPhoto: Don't tamper with files in the iPhoto Library folder from the Finder. So for a novice it's safer to have them export the file to the desktop via the File->Export->File Export menu route, resizing as necessary in the process.
Do you Twango?
G5 Dual Core 2GHz, 2G RAM, 250G HD; G4 Dual 1Ghz, 1.5G RAM, 80G HD,   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   22 LCD Display, 200G & 160G FW HDs, Canon S400, i850 & LIDE 50, Epson R200