What are the alternatives? The iphone is prohibitively expensive for most people, and it's unacceptable that privacy should only be available to the wealthy.

There's basically an Android/iOS "duopoly" out there, and it's only getting worse. There are now bank accounts that are unusable without a smart phone app, and guess which platforms are supported...Google Play and Apple App Store. And don't even think about sideloading onto a rooted device, it won't work "for security reasons". Such bank accounts, and services like Apple Pay, are effectively enabling vendor lock-in for very important services.