I'm usually the first to understand that sometimes there's functionality that's so juicy that you'll put up with some pain to get it. But the trouble with Flickr is that when you choose to use it, you're not just experiencing its awful horrors yourself, but you're inflicting horror on everyone who you hope to have as your photo audience.

There is so much that I despise about Flickr's user interface that it's difficult to even BEGIN to describe how it makes my blood boil. How could you people possibly tolerate using it?

I mean, just for one of like a hundred examples, look at the insane little photo nav widget they have. (One of 6 or so different ways to navigate photos, by the way. Do you need 6 ways? Do you?) The widget shows you 1) some photo that seems irrelevant, 2) some other photo that seems irrelevant, 3) the total number of photos in some kind of group that you appear to be lost in, and then 4) gives you the choice to see "more"? Or instead of "more" would you like "more"? And if you click on the photo, you seem to just be lost again.

Yes yes, I understand that it's paging through the photos. But why does it refuse to tell you where you are? And refuse to show you where the photo you're looking at is? Even though I know exactly how to use it, and I understand what it's doing, it still makes me angry every time I have to see it. Every time.

I realize that there's not a lot of choice of other services. Certainly Picasa Web Albums isn't really designed to store your original photos the way Flickr is, but I'm sure someone over there is working on that. And then you will stop using Flickr. You WILL. I COMMAND YOU!