I think his concern is mainly for developing countries and our environment in general, and a respect for the devices (saying that if you recycle a phone, the good plastic will be mixed in and forever become a lower grade).... I think it's more of preserving things instead of throwing things away and it's a frustration that apple (and others) who seem to care about the environment are making things worse in favor of ease of manufacturing....
/rant
I've got a samsung 1900x1200 monitor that died on me recently (smelled a popped capacitor) and I'm not giving up on it until I fix it :)