I think you're mistaking a correlation for causation here. Yes, people started saying "UI sucks for $reasonXZY" a lot more after these articles came out, but th

I think you're mistaking a correlation for causation here. Yes, people started saying "UI sucks for $reasonXZY" a lot more after these articles came out, but that's merely because the articles provided a convenient hook to which to attach existing grievances. A random "Tell HN: UI sucks because their firmware went down hill"-post is not likely to go anywhere. But as a comment within an article about UI, sure, that works. There are many things wrong with UI. An inflated insider security story does not change that.