Lead sucks, don't get me wrong. But it still has valid industrial uses. I just Googled for the stats, and we apparently still sell about 100 million car batteries a year in North America alone. Which seems crazy high, but at least they almost all get recycled since the market demand still exists.
We should be doing that for electronics, too. Right now "recycling" electronics means sending it to China where some kid takes it apart with a blowtorch, so yeah, I'm sure they appreciate RoHS. That doesn't make it a net win for the electronics industry or for humanity in general.
Admittedly, you're right about reliability increasing over time, and I'll further admit that I expected a different outcome entirely. By making manufacturing more difficult and expensive, RoHS forced everyone to pay strict attention to their processes, and that tends to result in better products. The Amphenol thing is a glaring exception.
