[bisonbison]

Guys, here's my grand explanation for the show as we've seen it so far. This is based on some really excellent weed and no reading of spoilers.

The island is a giant experiment, run by the Hanso foundation, but it's an experiment run on the research team Hanso sent there, on any random person the island draws to it, and on anybody they manage to steer towards the island and strand there.

The 'Others' are just as stuck on the island as the 815 bunch, but they're further along in reaching the goal of the experiment. They may get a few more airdrops or have better equipments and tons of supplies on their side of the island, but they're just a few steps (and a couple dozen years) removed from figuring out the button and finding the question mark.

Edit: I suppose I might also add that the boat the others used was already identified as a coastal boat, clearly from the island itself, and that the hope of that small vessel navigating the Pacific Ocean is slim. Particularly since the island is a few hours by plane from any island that had an airport, and they'd be navigating while under the influence of whatever it is that disorients all navigational systems. <font color="white">even ethical ones</font>