Why does Apple make iPhone screens out of glass?

Hello,

I got an iPhone 4 that a friend of mine gave to me about a few months ago. He's never dropped it once, and when I recieved it, the phone was in almost mint condition. However, just today, I dropped it once, and the front screen instantaneously broke. Needless to say, after owning Apple products for nearly a decade, I was furious. Then, after looking up the prices to replace the screen, I became just as instantaneously broken as my screen did; almost $200. I'm pretty sure I could buy a few used iPhones with the money I'd spend to replace the sensory component of one.

Why Apple chooses to use glass as a choice of interface is beyond me. Dozens of other manufacturers are using next-to-unbreakable plastic screens. I could drop my old LG phone as many times as I like, and it would still work absolutely fine. Same goes for every other phone I've ever had- there's no loss of touch accuracy (although they were slow, but that's the fault of the low-end processors installed in them.) Anyway, I digress; I'm still very fumed up over my broken screen and that I won't be getting it fixed.

I'd also like to note that I'm not the only person who's had this problem. Most of my friends, colleagues, and teachers own Apple devices. Roughly 65% of them have cracked their screens, and instead of replacing them, due to the ludicrous price range.

If an Apple associate would read this (unlikely) and possibly suggest it to a figure of authority (highly unlikely) I'd be very grateful. Also, I'd be very greatful if any members of the community would be able to suggest a cost-effective solution (if possible, under $70) in order to replace my screen.

As a consolation, I have been using Apple products since the age of 5. Most of them were hand-me-downs and I was never using the "next-best-thing"- my first Mac was a Power Macintosh G3, running Mac OS 8, which eventually was updated to Mac OS 9.2. The machine was still rather expensive, and after much use, it finally "kicked the bucket" if you will. I currently have an iMac G3, an eMac, and other Apple devices.

Thanks,

Richard