I am a user of the lists functionality, but in all fairness, novice HN users can come in many forms. There are some industry experts that simply read the front

I am a user of the lists functionality, but in all fairness, novice HN users can come in many forms. There are some industry experts that simply read the front page briefly and go back to their work. There is an opportunity cost to exploring something hard-to-find, and some people may be better off spending the time exploring or hacking something else outside of HN. I agree with your point, but not the generalizations that accompany it.