It certainly would be nice. I have an off-topic, but, nevertheless, important request in the question format: is there any chance that HN UI will be improved in the nearest future by allowing users to selectively expand & collapse individual discussion threads? The lack of this feature is IMO a very annoying issue and a glaring example of how simplicity taken to an extreme leads to a significant friction in UX (which arguably could be fixed relatively easily in this case).

You can collapse threads by clicking [-] and expand by clicking [n more]. Are you asking for something different?

Oops, I'm sorry! Perhaps, I have focused so intensely on the content of so many interesting discussions on HN that I somehow totally missed that control (unexpectedly to me, located on right side of the anchor label). Thank you for pointing at it and please accept my sincere apology for unwarranted criticism, which, obviously, I'm retracting. :-)

No worries! I'm just glad that we actually have what you were asking for. I wasn't sure :)