First of all, thanks for the critique!

What you’re seeing on the new homepage and related static pages around the site is the leading edge of a set of new features we’ll be rolling out a few pieces at a time along with a redesign over the next month or two. And we’ll certainly be reaching out to Publish2 users like you to beta test a revamped bookmarklet, and a streamlined user experience that will plant search and discovery high on the page. We’re certainly inspired by (and users of) Dropbox and Tumblr, among others.

To answer your other questions about the new homepage:

We’re supporting the free service for journalists by creating a separate version of Publish2 for corporate use. It should be a familiar model: Advertising supports journalism.