Hmm.
I am replying to the above comment about "no wasted space on the display".
That comment has a line of information that could be shrunk down to a user name and 4 icons, the comment itself, then a line with only "Reply" on it.
It could all easily fit on one display line instead of three.
But then the item I want to view would be harder to select on a phone or tablet. Let's not forget those devices. On my tablet the page currently shows 25 items without scrolling and I can easily select an item of interest without accidental selections. In my opinion the current display works well with a reasonable compromise between to much whitespace and too "fiddly".
That comment has a line of information that could be shrunk down to a user name and 4 icons, the comment itself, then a line with only "Reply" on it. It could all easily fit on one display line instead of three.