New Python 3.0 string formatting - really necessary?

[walterbyrd]

I have not worked with Python enough to really know. But, it seems to
me that more I look at python 3.0, the more I wonder if it isn't a
step backwards.

To me, it seems that this:

print "%s=%d" % ('this',99)

Is much easier, and faster, to type, and is also easier to read and
understand. It also allows people to leverage their knowledge of C.

This (if it's right) is much longer, and requires more special
characters.

print( "{0}={1}".format('this',99))

Maybe it's worth all the extra trouble, and breaking backward
compatibilty, and all. But, I never had the idea that the old way was
all that big a problem. Of course, I could be wrong. Was the old way
all that big of a problem?