The old one was fairly plain vanilla and professional looking just like a passport should be. The new one is more like a picture book with each page depicting some scene designed to stir the heart of every American patriot. There are scenes with riverboats, sailing ships, trains, bison, eagles, cowboys, and other memorable sights, each paired with a nice little quote, but it just doesn't look like a serious document anymore.
Being a train fanatic, I do rather like the steam train on page 22 (see below) but I would as soon not have it in my passport.
My other complaints are that my passport number has changed from one that was easy to remember to something a bit more cryptic not so easy to memorize and, last but not least, the picture of the person inside is of this old guy who I hardly recognize. In the interests of vanity, I will not reproduce that photo here.
