I never thought of Techcrunch to be about tech and I don't think it covers the aspects of startups I care about. When I say tech and startups, I mean programming languages, software and great hacks a startups use to scale and build their business. Not Series A rounds and acquisitions.

You're right when you say there has always been more to HN than tech and startups but I would says they are the defining aspects of HN.

Regarding that line on the guideline you quote, I really wish it would be changed. It is literally used to justify the admission of anything since how could you argue with someone that something is not interesting. It's a completely subjective and useless method to define what's on-topic. But that's just my opinion.