I think people can have a genuine difference of opinion on many topics and the toilet episode is one of them.
But the NPAPI thing is different. It's clear-cut technical issue. For example, I have to believe that someone as senior as Hikvision's Chuck Davis understands the technical problems with NPAPI and not blame Google (like you)
The Chrome issue isn't relevant for any VASP I know of, as we all use IE.
On a slight tangent, are you suggesting that IE is not a modern web browser?
As you like to say, is this a UK thing? :)
First, IE has been discontinued (announced 2 years ago), so by definition, it's no longer modern.
Secondly, IPVM's web traffic is 5x more from users using Chrome than IE. Given our heavy integrator readership, it's a pretty stronger indicator that not 'all use IE'.
Finally, Chrome is the world's most widely used browser so Hikvision having broken support for it is not impressive. With 10,000 engineers, you would think a few of them could make it work on Chrome.