Blizzard gain a flash of insight?

[Athenau]

Let's try a thought experiment. Say that inferno was merely an incrementally harder difficulty, roughly comparable to the jump between nightmare and hell. Everything else stays the same.

I'd wager that everyone here would have completed inferno already, possibly several times over. Would you all still be playing for the item hunt?

If the answer is "no" then clearly the main issue is not the hard gear check that inferno imposes.