Well Samsung, that's what you get for using non-replaceable batteries.
I hope that this desaster forces either phone vendors or regulatory agencies to mandate replaceable batteries. The EU got through with mandating micro-USB, after all...
It's not fair to say that Samsung deserves this because of a non-removable battery. This could have happened with a removable battery too. Who knows the reason why this happened -- bad battery manufacturer, bad soldering internally, something wrong in the layout of pieces connecting the charger to the battery -- but it's unfair to say this is deserved because they removed something and added something in return, in this case water resistance.
Yes, but that still doesn't mean Samsung deserves it. The fact that they don't have a removable battery doesn't mean they deserve this, and it doesn't mean that the users who buy their products deserve this.
They can, but you can separate the device from the battery in case of recalls, thus preventing natural resource waste.
Also, my Galaxy Note 1 battery blew up on me because I used a cheap charger. I simply took it out, disposed of it at a city waste center, and put in a new battery for 15€. Try this with a "closed" phone. Either you can do it yourself, which requires at minimum 3h time + specialized equipment (e.g. regulated hot air gun), or pay 100€+ to a service center.
I can't speak for the Galaxy Note, but when I replaced the battery on my iPhone, it took me perhaps twenty minutes with minimal tools (screwdrivers, suction cup, plastic "spudger" -- all supplied with the battery) and no prior experience. Could probably do it in half the time with practice.
When I took out my Samsung Note 2 battery it took me perhaps ten seconds with no practice either. Twenty minutes for replacing a component they know is going to wear out the quickest of all components is long and a dick move by the company.
To give some perspective, this was for a phone that was around 4 years old, and which had been sitting in a box fully discharged for a while, destroying the original battery.
Twenty minutes of work over four years is not a big deal.
I hope that this desaster forces either phone vendors or regulatory agencies to mandate replaceable batteries. The EU got through with mandating micro-USB, after all...