Re: Motivation
The chance of doing it wrong by yourself is always there, but that's what the guides are there for. If you don't have confidence that you can do it properly, I'm sure you can find someone who will do it for you so long as you pay them (of course they may also fail). Google wouldn't mind if you failed and bought another one, but when they weren't providing parts, the result was the same. At least now, a lot of people who would try DIY repair will succeed. I think your second argument is incorrect.
Your first is probably correct, but I'm good with that. If they want to attract attention by doing the right thing in a way that actually works for me and all the others who want to repair, then I like that approach. It's much better than pretending to be interested while taking no real action. It's also better than hiring lobbyists to try to kill legislation. Basically, Google saw that people might require them to do it, so they found a way they could do it that worked for them. Unless something turns up that hampers the plan, this looks like a positive to me.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
