It's possible, though flipping through iFixit's guides (the 2G, 3G, 3GS, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, and 14 models), the first time adhesive pull tabs were referenced by them was in the iPhone 3G (the second-generation iPhone). They recommended against using the pull tabs in the 3G and 3GS, though. Unless Apple removed the pull tab at some point and then added it back in soon after (between the model generations I checked), it seems like iPhones have consistently had some form of a pull tab after the original iPhone.

What might have been possible is that the adhesive may have aged to the point where the pull tabs were no longer usable in your iPhone when you repaired it and the battery was essentially glued/adhered to the chassis at that point. Without the pull tabs (which can break when trying to use them), the battery adhesive basically becomes the same as the display adhesive, which also requires heat to remove.

The batteries in iPhones are actually adhered using adhesive pull-tabs, which is the second most consumer-friendly method (the most would be a removable cover in the style of early smartphones). The hard part is that an iPhone battery replacement requires removal of the display and a bunch of other components, which can be time-consuming and difficult for someone who doesn't regularly do that kind of repair.

The position of city manager is a municipal position, not a state position. Cronk was a municipal official, and his "boss" was the Austin City Council, which is nominally nonpartisan but has a 10-to-1 Democrat-to-Republican composition out of eleven members. The City Council selected him to manage Austin as its "chief executive officer." He faced consequences because 9 out of 10 Democrats on the City Council and the lone Republican decided together that he could no longer meet the needs of the job after this latest fiasco. He was fired by the same Democrats that also run the city and were elected in municipal elections (unlike him, who was selected by elected officials but himself faces no municipal election). A proposal (2021 Prop F) to replace the council-manager system in Austin with a mayor-council system lost by 70 percentage points.

Just a week ago, Cronk announced that he had negotiated a four-year contract with Austin's police union despite the City Council wanting a one-year contract so that they could figure out reforms and public proposals as well. This very public disagreement (which was no doubt embarrassing to the City Council) coupled with public outrage over the management of Austin Energy made it a very easy decision to sack Cronk now.

ERCOT and the Texas state government had no role in these recent power outages. Unlike 2021, where there were significant generation and transmission problems on a statewide level, the 2023 power outages in Austin were a result of local infrastructure - managed by the city itself through the municipally-owned utility Austin Energy - not being adequately maintained to deal with extreme weather. In particular, tree trimming programs were scaled down for over a decade due to public complaints, and that ended up being a big problem when those tree branches fell onto power lines and knocked out power for significant chunks of the city for days.

The NTSB recommended alcohol impairment detection systems be included in new vehicles a few months ago. Presumably, those systems would prohibit engine startup or something along those lines if they detect alcohol. I remember the news of this recommendation making some waves due to potential privacy concerns and manufacturer lockout from a device that the person owned, but the general concept is interesting at least and would save lives if there was an ethical (in the sense of ownership), non-intrusive way to implement such systems.