Well... maybe. But...
Most of the reason I don't like the AR is BECAUSE of the experiences I had with it in the military, lol. As soon as I got out and was no longer forced to have one, I grabbed stuff I actually wanted.
Sure. Not everyone's like me. But many probably are.
Also, @tuna makes a good point above: the numbers ain't everything. Lots of shooters have zero ARs, but lots of AR fans have a half-dozen of the damn things.
Thats a good point. There have been periods where reliability was in question, effectiveness was in question, etc. And some still question those. I think generally it has been well-recieved as for the most recent generations that have taken the platform to an area of conflict.