They most certainly are--in comparison to almost any "real" exchange, anyway.
Yeah, except Gox isn't a "real" exchange. Compare apples to apples, please.
Perhaps not, but given the small time-frame within which they have grown from that trading-card company to the largest bitcoin exchange, their current incompetence becomes, if not forgivable, then certainly somewhat understandable.
No. It's not forgivable at all. You're a Gox-apologist and it's really quite sad. The problems Gox is facing aren't new and they weren't unknown, and the solutions to such problems have been implemented before. It's not like Gox was suffering some unique, never-before-experienced technological issues.
You said so yourself:
It wasn't like their problems just magically popped up suddenly without any indications whatsoever.
Gox has failed to implement the necessary preventative measures that would have mitigated this mess. They sat on their arse and raked in the money. They're not just incompetent, they're irresponsible.
You're not really mad at them. You're mad at yourself. Anyone who bothered to do a bit of research and learn a little about their potential to suffer exactly these sorts of growing pains could have seen this coming five miles away.
I don't use Gox. I didn't like Gox before and I don't like them now, but now I'm mad at them because they should have been able to do a better job. Their fuck up has adversely affected the entire economy. If it was isolated to Gox users then I would probably just laugh at them.