Pros/cons thing, this new layout. I can see where just about all of you are coming from with your arguments; I had a rudimentary flow working with the old Flickr and I mostly liked it, but also mostly through familiarity. As long as ownership terms for the posted work aren't up for an update I'm can't be *rsed to worry about the new look though.
The new look might show how a photo will perform in a wild mix of pics. It'll probably take more to make them stand out from the crowd, but that's not a problem to me (they didn't stand out anyway, maybe this'll reveal why 😀 )
Also, having a platform that's ready for tablets & smartphones is a good thing as they are not going away any day soon. I had started to refer to my stream through a QR code, and I kind of like that it now refers to a site that is smartphone/tablet based. For those who wish to refer to the old view, just update the links to the edit view which is old style.
I can see how this change is forced, unwanted by many etc. etc. but I simply can't work up the energy to worry about it much.
Still, I do like how people are applying basic survival strategies to the change: they either adapt or migrate 😀
Now I'm going to do as the British do in times of stress - put a kettle on, and toy around with this new situation and see how I can make it work for me...
Derk