Except that they're already losing access to email, forever. A small chance of it happening because of a hacker is better than a statistical guarantee of it happening from phone theft.
Th GGP was speaking in the first person. I personally have had hackers try to break into my account before, but have never lost my phone number. Furthermore, notwithstanding the policies of the "obamaphone" program, I would be able to recover my phone number if I lost my phone. So, speaking for the vast majority of people, it would be preferable to have losing my phone number lock me out of my account than having my password leaked lock me out of my account. If that is the dichotomy, and if we still care about the welfare of the average person, the correct choice is incredibly clear.
