Does everyone hate Apple?

Nearly everytime I open up my web browser my first three stops are gizmodo.com,engaged.com and macrumors.com. Basically I am just being a geek, and like to keep upto date with what's going on in the world of 'Gadg'.
For a while now I have been amazed by some of the comments on these sites, as most of them tend to be about hating Apple and cursing Steve Jobs. For the life of me I can't understand why people hate Apple. Unlike sure. I unlike mushrooms, but just don't order them on my pizza, not spit out bile about them in a fruit and beg forum. Hate is a strong word. Hate would be preferring to have your nuts cut off instead of buying an iMac.
All any website has to do is print something to do with Apple and suddenly it is set upon by the Apple lynch mob. 'I hate Apple', 'MacBooks are over expensive tosh' and '256mb and no flash player? The iPad is shite' are common comments. Sure you are well within your rights to not buy that new Mac Mini, but no need to slag an entire company off just because it doesn't play your favorite game.
I am not a fanboy. But I do like Apple gear. Looks great and is so simple to use! I know I can buy a similar spec machine for half the price, could even install OSX and make a hackintosh. But I prefer to spend my money at Apple. For example my five year old MacBook can out run my Quad Core Windows box still. And I'm sure if I had brought a similar laptop instead, it would be dead and buried by now.
Apple don't do themselves any favors, like locking down the iPhone and iPad so they can only install App Store apps, but by doing so it means they can control the quality of content, and almost eliminate the risk of viruses and malware.
Apple isn't a cult. It's just people deciding they don't want a dell, or run Windows, and can't be bothered with messing around with Linux. If someone asks me to recommend a computer I don't automatically say Apple. I'll ask what they are going to use it for, and how much they are willing to spend.
I know Apple are doing well right now and I think that's the main problem. Human nature tends to dislike anyone succeeding, we would all much prefer to see people fail. Of course there is always the jealousy option. Some people can't afford it, so they knock it instead. But I think the more likely reason is that they haven't grown up yet, and have never been told 'if you have nothing good to say...shut the fuck up'. Just my two cents...