That's clearly not the point, and a lousy suggestion. Why would I want to "dispose of" perfectly functioning hardware which has no fault except for reaching an

That's clearly not the point, and a lousy suggestion. Why would I want to "dispose of" perfectly functioning hardware which has no fault except for reaching an artificial expiry date imposed by its maker? The best way to help the environment is to build things that last, keeping them alive for as long as possible if people choose to do that. Apple says NO, they don't give a stuff. "Buy a new ipad because you'll be supporting Apple, and we make millions of the things, there's unlimited Earth resources allowing us to do that."