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This screenshot of an Ars Technica journalist with Phil Zimmerman, PGP author (yes, not the same as GPG), is very telling:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/12/op-ed...

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I'm not sure what you're implying, but without context, the screenshot is meaningless.

It could be that Phil has a policy of not storing private keys on his iPhone or something. Is that so unusual?

Anyways, maybe you're privy to context that I'm missing.

My interpretation is that even if the people who are technically savvy in that specific area, if they have times they won't deal with encrypted information, how often are non-technical people going to want to deal with it?

According to the screenshot, it's not the he won't, it's that he can't.

I would say the implication is that PGP is useless for general secure communications purposes. You can be secure with it when you have very specific needs and have knowledgeable contacts, but it doesn't solve the need for communications privacy that most people have.

It's not a problem to be blamed on PGP though. A solution to shield an Average Joe's private life from his internet provider's snooping will always have its own deficiencies, exactly because of its generality.

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