Such a pity, I was looking forward to getting an X1...
Courts of law have a good reason to hold high standards of evidence. For everyone else it's just an excuse for laziness. Not that I'm any better, I just don't insist on rationalizing it :-)
I agree that it's trivial to exploit, but I choose to believe that, in the general case, people/entities are lazier than they are evil. That said, laziness can be in the form of "not taking into account the externalities", which can be indistinguishable from actual malice (which I define as knowingly and/or willfully causing harm).
I still think Lenovo's behaviour in this case is that form of laziness, though my comment above means I'm on the fence.
FWIW, I agree with you: I put thoughtlessness and callousness fall under the laziness umbrella.
Then again, I may be underestimating management's ability to drink their own kool-aid.
Given the general sliminess in computer, phone and software companies, there is no "pure" option except to buy some ancient computer and never use it on the internet, like RMS. This isn't acceptable to me. I will buy what serves my own needs, and you can do whatever you want.
I've been eyeing Macbooks forever, but as far as I know Linux support has never been great, despite the prevalence of their hardware. System76 sells some good Linux-oriented laptops. Some of Dell's laptops are Ubuntu-certified. I had a good HP Elitebook via work about 6 years ago, but everything I've tried of theirs over the past couple years has been throw-out-the-window bad.
I ask that from a Lenovo Thinkpad T520i, one of a half-dozen or more I've owned or used over 15+ years, and absolutely my preferred mobile hardware over that period.
It's like the opposite of damage control.