Wouldn't a good caching solution reduce the server load?

One nice thing about a comprehensive functional archive is that it makes it easy to show folks how much great content is on the site.

But really when it comes to locating specific information most folks are going to go for the search box first. Unfortunately the WordPress search function is still so notoriously weak that when I want to find something I kinda-sorta remember from a site I'll do a Google site: search instead because it usually gets me the content faster than the WP search box.

Oh, and I really like Lester's archives. They look great, but I'd be curious to know how much they are used normally.