but I'm learning that a LOT of people are either / or with phones and computers;

My knee jerk reaction was to say something smart ass like "well they should get a computer" but you're absolutely right.

The customer service woman I talked to was surprised I could talk to her and browse the internet (on a laptop). She told me most people use their phone for everything. I met college kids who were typing their papers on their phones. My mom never owned a computer until I gave her one, and she leaves it in the corner "for emergencies".

I have no answer. People will continue uploading their lives into Google photos, Facebook galleries, whatever - with no backup, and hope those companies store their data. I think the average person is fucked.

Agreed, but if the data is important, you need to pay another third party for backups. If something is important and you only have it stored once, that's on you, no tech is infallable.