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My suggested radical rewrite 7 July

[I am putting this forward as the basis for a rewrite of the Flickr 2013 change "history" piece combined with the "controversy" section. After some thought I feel that due weight would be given by starting a new section after "History" devoted to the replacement Flickr introduced with these changes.]

On 20 May 2013,Yahoo held a product-related press event at short notice in Times Square, NYC. It was rumoured to be to announce the acquisition of the Tumblr blogging site, which was confirmed the same day. As the event started in New York, the entire Flickr website was abruptly switched to a radically redesigned model, while the main subject of the media event was revealed to be the new Flickr website.

Flickr was changed from a subscription funded service, to a free advertising based service. The design and functionality was changed. An "infinitely-scrolling" wall of photos in a grid layout, with a black-background view of each, replaced the previous thumbnail and text-based numbered pages.

Existing customers ("Pro" account subscribers) were offered a refund of subscription or the option to continue their subscription on the new Flickr with some relief from advertising. Many existing members were unhappy. The public Flickr help forum was inundated with overwhelmingly negative user reaction.

All users are now offered up to ITB of server space without charge. New $49.99 p.a. "Ad Free" accounts and $499.99 p.a. "Doublir" accounts (with 2TB of storage) are available.

(I have omitted source references here for the purposes of my sandbox exercise. Obviously they should be included in any real edit)

My suggested edit

On 20 May 2013, Yahoo unveiled a major reconstruction of the website, changing its look and layout.[22][23][76][77][78] An "infinitely-scrolling" wall of photos in a grid layout, with a black-background view of each, replaced the previous thumbnail and text-based numbered pages. [22][23][79][80][81] Also the subscription model, known as "Flickr Pro", was discontinued and replaced with a paid by advertising model. All users were offered up to I TB of server space without charge. Users could opt for new paid for "Ad Free" accounts or greater storage space known as "Doublir".[23][22][82]

The public Flickr help forum was inundated with overwhelmingly negative user reaction. .[83][27] .[84] .[85] 86] .[87]

Asked at the Flickr redesign press launch on 20 May whether Flickr would be "shuttering" its Pro accounts, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said that "there's no such thing as Flickr Pro because today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, there's no such thing, really, as professional photographers."[88] This prompted outraged responses from professional photographers,[89] .[90]

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The current text with my suggested edits shown

deletions in superscript - explanation in brackets and italics - Substituted copy in bold

On 20 May 2013, Yahoo unveiled a major reconstruction of the website, changing its look and layout.[22][23][76][77][78] An "infinitely-scrolling" wall of photos in a grid layout, with a ^{high-resolution}(no image can possibly be displayed at any resolution greater than the resolution of the screen it is displayed on) black-background view of each, replaced the previous thumbnail and text-based numbered pages. [22][23][79][80][81] Also the subscription model, known as "Flickr Pro", was discontinued and replaced with a paid by advertising model. All users were offered up to I TB of server space without charge. Users could opt for new paid for "Ad Free" accounts or greater storage space known as "Doublir". ^{change gave all users of free accounts 1 TB of storage, and discontinued the "Flickr Pro" account option for new users, replacing them with higher-priced "Ad Free" and "Doublr" accounts}.[23][22][82]

The public Flickr help forum was inundated with overwhelmingly negative user reaction. ^{In response, the Flickr help forums were divided over the change, with a majority criticising the changes.[83][27] Many users expressed concern that the redesign ignored the needs of professional photographers.[84](the author of the LA Times piece has confused professional photographers with Pro users of the Flickr site.) Web publisher and entrepreneur Derek Powazek saw this as Flickr moving away from paying customers and focusing on ad revenue.[85] In help forum responses to users who had contacted them, Flickr affirmed that the site would not be reverting back to an older version.[86] Tech columnist David Pogue‎ summarised the user response as justified "confusion" over pricing changes, and "the usual “Who moved my cheese?” wailing that accompanies the redesign of anything". He described Flickr's redesign as "a gigantic improvement," allowing Flickr visitors to see large, clear photos while being able to quickly scroll through a particular collection.[87]} (Powazek currently is cited merely to state an opinion that flickr is moving from paid subscription to ad revenue. That is a fact not anyone's opinion. I stated it simply in the previous paragraph. Powazek can stand as the source if necessary. Pogues opinions are tendentious and unnecessary. Further his reliability is in doubt as is made clear in his own WP biography, under controversy.) (I realise that this reduces the central controversy to a single sentence. But that is the controversy, IMO. The paying customer base has been told that their custom is no longer wanted. These people had invested money and a lot of time in cultivating their photo collections. They are angry at the service for which they had paid in advance suddenly completely changing. Their reasonable complaints are then dismissed as whining. If or when there is a source that is sufficiently authoritative and sums this up coherently then it can be expanded.)

Asked at the Flickr redesign press launch on 20 May whether Flickr would be "shuttering" its Pro accounts, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said that ^{she wanted "everybody to have professional-quality photo space," and that} "there's no such thing as Flickr Pro because today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, there's no such thing, really, as professional photographers."[88] This prompted outraged responses from ^{In response to outrage from} professional photographers,[89] ^{Mayer apologized via Twitter for wording her answer "terribly," saying that she was referring to the changes to Flickr's storage space and the number of photographs that people take.[90]} (This bit about the gaffe has been cleaned up.)