I'm sure it did not or maybe it was not enabled by default. I distinctly remember having to turn 'condensed view' back on because the thumbnails were taking so much vertical space.

edit: Just noticed who I replied to. I guess you would know better.

Of course, but the dominance of images over text was gradual. Compare archives of the front page in 2008, 2010 and so on. It is remarkable how the content focus shifts.

Oh for sure. It's shifted way too far towards images now. I was just pointing out the shift started really early.