I do not think it is bulls***, but at the same time I think the "hate" is self imposed by MS. Much like Sony at the start of the last-gen the "Hate" stems from the decisions these companies make. Sony did a ridiculous price point, their PR was egotistical, and their software was lacking. For MS this-gen it is sort of similar, the obsessed nature around Kinect, the poor PR for their original policy, and their lack of proving kinect to be worth the high price point.
If we look at last-gen, where did the "Hate" come from for MS ? they did very little wrong, they were highly praised by most, but things like the RROD fiasco earned them some continual hate. Their Pay for MP earned them some thanks to PSN+ being free. Then they kept the generation going longer than some were comfortable with, their software offerings fell off some too.
I think when you look at it purely subjectively you can see than people do not hate this company or that one, they simply hate some of the decisions they make. This is normal, understandable, and at the very least it is normal for businesses.