Tunderhill --
What you said earlier about iCloud being a framework for apps that will increase in usefulness as more apps employ it made sense. Part of the problem is the way it integrates with Apple's own apps. I know it's not meant to be a storage system, but it interferes with the functionality of the storage system by putting an extra step between the transfer of files and the storage of files. It's unwieldy with both iPhoto and with Pages, but works great with newly installed apps, Calendars, and with Contacts. It's actually unnecessary with email.
The recent point about Dropbox is not that Dropbox is a better storage system, but that Dropbox is adding functions that work similarly to iCloud/Photostream.
If Photostream didn't stream between in a way that required the photos to be exported and then managed (filed or organized) after that it'd be light years better. The files should transfer straight into my file management system.