So a company will crack an iPhone for 50 bucks? What does that imply about the security of financial information on a lost smartphone? Is it even easier to crack Android Phones? If a smartphone comes into possession of a theft-ring, how long does it take to crack a phone with all current security updates in place?

Sorry, 30,000 feet for the plane ride. Though some military jets can reach 60k.

A trip to the observation platform at the Shanghai Tower would have given him the same information. He would have gotten to 60,000' during the plane ride to Shanghai. If he orbited the earth, he still would believe the earth was flat and that he was somehow fooled by a government conspiracy.