[Capt. Tom]

Even worse, Boeing made certain safety features into extra cost options.

I would have thought that when they modified the plane and had an angle of attack indicator one one side they would have jumped at the opportunity of having another one on the other side of the cockpit in case a bird strike, runway debris strike or icing up occurred so that the pilot would immediately see something was amiss, and explain in detail how to take over control of the plane.
To me it is like selling cars with either front brakes or rear brakes, you do not need both,but if you want both you have to pay extra. -Tom

[Rockingham]

Boeing also seems to have missed the point that its reputation is at risk every time one of its aircraft flies. They are fools to design to the minimum and to make safety optional.

[FtrPilot]

I would have thought that when they modified the plane and had an angle of attack indicator one one side they would have jumped at the opportunity of having another one on the other side of the cockpit...

All Boeing 737 aircraft have 2 AOA sensors. The issue is the MCAS architecture where MCAS only receives data from one AOA sensor at a time. If that sensor malfunctions, MCAS has no way to determine that the sensor has malfunctioned and reacts to the AOA data being provided by the sensor.

The safety features that were extra cost options are AOA display on the PFD (see pic below. It's the gauge to the right of "CMD" with a readout of 5.2) and "AOA disagree" warning message.

I still don't know why Boeing made these extra cost options.