On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Alexandros Nipirakis
<anipirakis@gmail.com> wrote:
> I suppose the only final comment is to point out that many people find
> the senseless destruction of things to be abhorable. =A0I am one of
> these people. =A0The thing was produced by someone and does in it have
> the original person's labor. =A0It represents human time in its design
> and manufacture. =A0Therefore, people should respect that someone
> created the things they have, have taken pride in their work and
> therefore the product should be respected as such.

Interesting!  I suppose it follows, then, that the payment for the
product was only part of the responsibility the purchaser owes to the
creator of the object?

What, then, do you think of one birthday activity I had many years ago:

 1. Spread out a large tarp on the lawn.
 2. Place old computer equipment on tarp (some worked, some didn't
mostly valueless)
 3. Don suitable safety equipment (glasses are a must, gloves, long
sleeve shirts, and full pants good)
 4. Pass around a baseball bat and let people enjoy the entertainment
of applying large mechanical transient forces to the old computer
equipment

Aside from the shear joy of destruction, there was lots of education
to be had - but let's dismiss the possible educational aspects of this
and discuss the point:

Was this activity abhorrent to you, given that it differs from the
iPad incident by only a few particulars?
If not, what particulars make the difference, and what is that difference?
If so, what is the proper "retirement" for objects that people put
their time and labor into so we can show proper "respect" for that
labor when the object no longer has practical use?
In 30 years when a given iPad is literally useless, does one still
have a responsibility to the creator of the iPad to treat it with
suitable respect, or does that responsibility have a time limit?

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