Maybe I put too much judgment in the title. Being on the outside, I know nothing about expenses and the tough choices they're undoubtedly making.
It's just that from the outside, Flickr seems like such a no-brainer priority.
Good luck to all the engineering talent who left today, I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting a new gig.
As a pro user since 2006, it's one of the few web services I actually pay for, and I would easily pay double the current $24.95/year. No question at all. Perhaps not every pro user would do that, but they could easily add a 3rd tier (free, pro, poweruser) or something similar.