Apple could build all this into an OSX-local service that is just a push-button away from being easy to use. Plug in an external hard drive, Log in with a special pre-configured user account, assign the drive to that user, and leave your computer running - from that point on, you can access everything that user has ever submitted, with their iDevice, over the 'net, etc.
I think the desire is definitely not there to make things this easy to use - precisely because of the Cloud-Zeitgeist that we're all involved in ..
I wouldn't save my photos on a platform that changes every few months (Google Photos/Plus/Drive), might be gone in two or three years, analyses images, builds face databases, and keeps your pictures ready for the NSA to access, for any purpose other than sharing images with other people.
I think the desire is definitely not there to make things this easy to use - precisely because of the Cloud-Zeitgeist that we're all involved in ..