Ace,
This is not Stepford. But, like everywhere else people do get enamored of their toys. Some posters here have, or still do, participate in Beta testing for Kobo, so they see things differently. Likely, they have seen far worse, and probably can appreciate positive change in ways others don't.
Some just do not like negativity and subscribe to the, "If you can't say anything nice..." policy. I suspect they must all be Canadians...
(Hey, stop throwing the Molsen bottles, that was a compliment.)
Others likely get their hackles up when someone without mention of a Kobo in their Device list starts in as they probably feel it's trolling, and it often is. Kobo has features others don't and sometimes owners of other equipment feel they must stop by and criticize the Kobo failings while conveniently ignoring the pluses. Maybe they just feel inadequate?