I want to point out a few things: 1) How important is Hacker News towards YC's bottom line? 2) How much is PG's time worth? 3) How much time would it take

I want to point out a few things: 1) How important is Hacker News towards YC's bottom line? 2) How much is PG's time worth? 3) How much time would it take to fix YC's software so it will scale properly? My guess is that #1 is moderate, #2 is high, and #3 is even higher. If that's the case, then of course he's going to go with a quick fix. I almost feel like the HN community would like to be unlisted on Google. It adds to the exclusivity and elitism the site seems to breed.