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It seems to me that doing so creates a gap for the chain to get caught in and fold causing catastrophic failure. Wouldn't a better solution, (and one that doesn't piss off SRAM) be to just use the limit screw and... limit the derailleur stroke?

That plastic disc will stop the chain from eating into your spokes if it goes too far over, but it isn't going to stop a rear derailleur that is hit on a rock. The plastic disc is rendered useless by a well-tuned derailleur stopping the chain from coming over and does nothing in the way of a bent hanger.

There is a little car for sale in the UK called a Caterham. It's design is essentially the same as when it was conceived in the 1950's. The models with the high output engines will put seconds into any modern supercar around a track. The point is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Bikes are all about geometry and suspension (mainly shock rate). Seeing as though these things can be built up very light I see no reason why it isn't at least as good as anything else on the market.

ISCG is the standard, not ISCG OLD or ISCG-03 - those are just made up names. ISCG-05 was invented for a standard that never came - ISIS OS. ISCG-05 has a larger BCD and thus limits where you can design pivots in/around the BB area. There are plenty of BIG bike companies still using the original ISCG standard for that reason, yet people think that because the ISCG-05 standard is "newer" it's better. I wish we could just go back to the original standard, it would make my job easier.