Not every possible 'improvement' needs to slide down the slippery slope of pretentious frippery, though.
Being able to use the site more easily in mobile is would be an actual improvement. I would also argue that collapsible comments would also serve the site without degrading it. Some typographic tweaks, such as increasing the line-height, would make large text boxes easier to read. And I doubt anyone who has lost a post due to a dead link would consider Hacker News entirely painless.
