Hmmm... very interesting post! I too tend to agree with Tea. The sameness and lack of character in store bought cheese really provided the catalyst for me to take on cheesemaking. This, I feel, really substantiates the relevance of this topic to this particular category. If it were not for this over-commercialization of the cheese industry and their quest for the 'standardized' cheese, I don't think many of us would be here trying to create something different.
Fact being, we are all maybe a little over fanatical with regards to cheese but quite honestly any cheese we make is far better and has more character infused than any of the mainstream big box cheeses.
There are thousands of great cheeses out there but they are all created much like ours in that they have individual character. If you are like me these are the cheeses we still buy and support the cheesemaker. If for no other reason I think we can chalk it up to research and development!
The brewing industry has experiences the same trend towards what they call 'drinkablility'. What that really means is they want something almost totally void of flavor, with moderate alcohol content that is overcarbonated and can only vaguely be tolerated ice cold. So drink it fast and repeat...
Hence the reason I brew my own also!
OK.. stepping off soap box now...