I suspect that after the site undergoes some further improvements, its content will be made visible to those without accounts (so that you would need an account to contribute but not to read).
Yes, agreed. There are some issues (mostly having to do with scalability) we have to sort out before we launch to public view without login.
But why you need people to log in to see about page? Just 1 static html page so I (not really me, because I spent a lot of time on that conversation anyway, but somebody, whatever) could decide if it's worth my time to sign up using real email account. It's, well, the point of about pages, to explain people what is that stuff they are looking at, and if they really want to go further. Scalability issues? That 1 static html page could be hosted anywhere, and, besides, if your servers aren't dying to host login page it wouldn't make very much difference anyway.
That's a good idea. Hope Larry considers it.
It's certainly something we can consider now that we've soft-launched. We've thought about it in the past, and now I guess it is a good idea to consider it again!