Not just HN. In my autocracy every housewife knew about Google cache — it was the easiest way to read information the government doesn't want you to read, and it was free and always available unlike many blocked VPNs (and what shady proxy companies call "VPNs").
It was a fairly hidden piece of functionality that a tiny proportion of people ever used -- of course, a higher proportion of HN users, but still.
Their brand is unchanged.