RE: Why do you like/dislike the 30/30? And more.
I don't think its "taboo", it is just not as popular as it once was. There is a greater emphasis on taking game at distance these days than there was historically. One of the greatest follies hunter's make is the gross over-estimation of range. If you see a deer standing in a southern peanut field 225 yards away, it will really look like he is 350 (I've done it too, thats why I carry a rangefinder). The deer are small, people blow things out of proportion, and while I have personally taken deer out to 180 yards with my 30/30 Ackley, I don't have the option of shooting 300 yards ethically(and there is no such place I hunt that I can see 300 yards anyway...). If you were to poll the majority of rifle buyers, they will often think about how far they MIGHT have to shoot (or if you are a student of Freud, how far they WANT to shoot), rather than how close they will LIKELY BE shooting. Hence, magnumitis and the decline of the 30/30.
When the 30/30 was on its throne as the king of the deer rifles (and it is still a senior senator there), hunting was vital to the survival of the family unit. Money was scarce, hunting was for food. The 30/30 was cheap, available, and did exactly what the family unit needed it to do.
With a few exceptions, hunting in 2006 is not a means of survival, it is a means of recreation. While the meat we take is certainly a perk, it isn't the difference between a big meal and the soup kitchen. Those who hunt with a 30/30 ususally put an emphasis on getting close to game (the hunt) as opposed to shooting at the greatest possible distance to test their skill (emphasis on the kill). Also, travel is becoming a bigger part of the modern hunter's life. Myself, for example, while hunting deer domestically in SC, am going to Africa in June for larger plains game and leopard. Now I have several rifles, including a 30/30, but if a sportsman wanted one rifle to do a majority of his hunting with, he'd pick something other than the 30/30, just for the sake of versitility and availibility.
There are plenty of things right with the 30/30. But, as times and needs of hunter's change, so do what is popular and what is not. Lever rifles are not as popular as they used to be, nor are guns that can't shoot MOA at god awful distances.