[VikingCoder]

If I were a journalist in a dangerous place...

I'd want to buy a AA-battery powered (or just solar powered?) touch screen device that has a USB port that you can physically BREAK OFF after you've uploaded either a pub/private key chain, or just a huge ass one-time-pad.

In my mind, it has a touch screen and a camera with a physical cover you can slide over it. No other ports or antennas or connectivity at all. To send an encrypted message, it flashes a series of QR codes to your smartphone. To receive an encrypted message, you show it a series of QR codes from your smartphone.

Your smartphone or computer sends encrypted messages, but it doesn't actually do the encryption or decryption.

[anonporridge]

You're basically describing a bitcoin hardware wallet, many of which can also be used to encrypt/decrypt and sign messages.

These manufacturers are really making exactly what you're describing a reality that is increasingly accessible to the average person. Still not foolproof, but increasingly so. Some, like Blockstream's beta Jade wallet, even work with the QR code scanning like you describe, https://blockstream.com/jade/

The development of this product definitely seems like one of the many positive externalities of bitcoin.