> Most people don't realize that they are trading their privacy for a shiny GUI when they buy an iPhone

You do realize that you trade privacy for convenience every time you carry a cell phone with you — unless it's a one-time phone with prepaid SIMs — don't you?

There is no need for "a shiny GUI" for that, be it Apple's, Google's or HP's.

That's true, but while my government-tapped phone can only harm my privacy, your government-tapped iPhone can harm everyone's privacy (by recording sounds and video and sending them to Apple's Centralized Server).

Now, I know there is no "expectation of privacy" in public, but does anyone really expect that some random person's phone is recording a video stream of you and storing it indefinitely on a private company's servers?

Government agencies have used cellular phones as recording devices since long before there was such a thing as an iPhone. Take your meds and get some sleep.