It all makes perfect sense. It always has. and I agree with you - if the facts say a cetain person is not reputable, then I wouldn't go forth in that direction.
The only problem is I often don't see the facts, only 1-sided opinionated finger pointing and bashing. That does not add any value in helping someone have an eductaed decision. If I researched Z1, I would probabaly find a buttload of posts. But if I took the time to actually sift through them, chances are the majority of them would not have any actual value and would just be fingerpointing and internet argueing.
Post like this just seem to go out of control because everyone wants to get their say in and most of the time what is said is nothing but pointless banter..
But then again, I guess I'm just as bad cause I wanna get my $.02 in also :-)