"Apple's Unfixable Gadgets"

I read a few different green blogs on a regular basis.  One of them is EcoGeek.  Here's an article I came across that got me a little ticked.  Basically, the gist is that Apple has designed the iPhone and the 6th generation iPods to be unfixable.  Great way for them to make more money forcing you to buy a whole new gadget when yours breaks.  But bad news in terms of reusing the resources poured into the devices.

"Apparently, the sixth generation iPods and the iPhone have been designed to be 100% unfixable. According to Brett,

The new generations of iPods and the iPhone are not designed to be opened. Because the Nano, iPhone and generation 6 "Classic" bodies are metal to metal the body gets completely trashed upon opening. The parts are actually soldered together.

All of this kinda flies in the face of Apple's new green image." (H. Green, 'Apple's Unfixable Gadgets...Made to Break?', 19 Jan 2008)

Of course, I wonder what Apple has to say about that...

That's really annoying. I've done a lot of electronics repair, including Apple gadgets (ipod mini), etc. I don't want to have to unsolder everything now!

 These comments are generally made by those with no familiarity with Apple's roadmaps for product development.  We hear this comment time and time again.  First its the iPod with the non-user replaceable batter.  Enter the third-party battery replacement with simple installation instructions.  Enter the MacBook Air: no replaceable battery.  Here, again, comes the third-party with a user-installable battery with instructions.  I don't understand why Apple is taking all the heat when there are a multitude of products on the market that are a complete environmental wash (The SUV with non-replaceable poor fuel economy).


Can these people please move beyond a singular source of complaint (Apple) and think about the millions of barrels of oil and tons of coal that are wasted on energy to keep Microsoft's Windows software working?  Seriously!