Actually, I suspect the clunking cranks on department store bikes of the 60s and 70s have a lot to do with the bias. It's a shame so many folk have never been able to enjoy properly functioning cottered cranks.

At any rate, the tool is fifty bucks. A 15 mm wrench and crank puller from Park run about thirty bucks total, leaving our man with a $20 budget for replacement cranks. So I'm not buying the cost argument either.