NFL star Damar Hamlin continues to show remarkable improvement, and is now able to breathe and speak on his own!
Damar Hamlin Can Now Breathe + Talk!
Damar Hamlin’s condition is rapidly improving at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC), where he’s being treated after suddenly collapsing on the field from a cardiac arrest.
Overnight, his breathing tube was removed, and he was able to. talk to his family and care team. They also confirmed that his neurological function remained intact.
However, doctors at UCMC said that he has shown “remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours“, and appears to be “neurologically intact“.
Per the physicians at UCMC, Damar’s breathing tube was removed overnight. He continues to progress remarkably in his recovery.
His neurologic function remains intact and he has been able to talk to his family and care team.
In fact, he was able to join a FaceTime call with his team, to talk to his fellow players and coaches, saying “Love you boys“.
Hamlin suffered his cardiac arrest on January 2, after tackling Tee Higgins from the Cincinnati Bengals and apparently getting hit in the chest.
Damar Hamlin got up after that tackle but suddenly collapsed from a cardiac arrest that many people have blamed on the COVID-19 vaccines, but is possibly the result of a rare commotio cordis.
Sudden cardiac arrests (without preceding blunt force trauma) are also rather common in young athletes – about 2,000 young athletes in the United States die from it every year.
Damar Hamlin Recovering Rapidly From Cardiac Arrest
This rapid development came after he woke up and wrote and asked the doctors who won the game! The doctor responded, “Damar, you won – you won the game of life“.
At that time, Damar Hamlin could not yet breathe on his own, but was conscious and able to communicate by writing, which showed that he was “neurologically intact”.
According to a statement by the Buffalo Bills, the doctors say that “his lungs continue to heal“, and “he is making steady progress“.
Per the physicians caring for Damar Hamlin at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Damar has shown remarkable improvement over the past 24 hours. While still critically ill, he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact. His lungs continue to heal and he is making steady progress.
We are grateful for the love and support we have received.
The news was much welcomed by his teammates, and brought a lot of smiles at One Bills Drive.
Damar Hamlin’s close friend and marketing rep, Jordon Rooney, also announced a new website for the Chasing M’s Foundation that Hamlin founded many years earlier – ChasingMsFoundation.com.
He also shared that Chasing M’s Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organisation that is dedicated to “supporting the aspirations of youth and community members through sports, education, and enrichment opportunities“.
The executive director, Mario Hamlin, ask that people who wish to donate to the foundation, please do so through the new website. He also asked that people consider donating to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center trauma center, or buy your trauma center team and first responders lunch.
The Hamlin family appears to be making these moves to curb the donation scams that have mushroomed over public support for Damar Hamlin.
So please do NOT donate to any other Damar Hamlin initiatives, cash app requests, or GoFundMe pages. The only legitimate avenues for donations towards Damar Hamlin are:
The Chasing M’s Foundation website
University of Cincinnati Trauma Center
Alternatively, you can show your appreciation for first responders and trauma teams in your area, by buying them lunch.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Whenever Apple releases a new iPhone, it has become tradition for rabid Apple and Android fans to trade barbs in a childish display of fandom rivalry. Facebook and blogs will be replete with taunts and jeers on both sides. It was not good enough that they didn’t like the rival platform, they had to make sure the other side knew how much they hated their platform. Check out some of their work when Apple launched their new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones :
Now that Apple has officially announced the iPhone 7, there is a new comparison out :
Of course, the comparison is hardly accurate, since the Nexus 6 is not water-resistant, just splash-resistant. The iPhone 7, on the other hand, has IP67-rated water resistance. It is also a fact that Apple iPhones have always lagged Android smartphones in features and specifications. In fact, Apple iPhones will always cost more… often far more, than an equivalent Android smartphone.
Updated @ 2016-09-13 : Updated the article for Apple iPhone 7, including new information on Apple iPhones and Android smartphones.
Updated @ 2016-01-26 :Ported it over to the new Tech ARP
Originally posted @ 2014-11-24
Apple iPhones Will Always Cost More
Frankly, the differences between an Apple iPhone and an Android smartphone have diminished in recent years, with both platforms borrowing features and ideas from each other. Arguing about who came up with which feature first will become nothing more than a pissing contest.
Whatever features that are unique to a particular platform will eventually be introduced in the competing platform. That’s what we want because it gives us the freedom to choose between the two platform without worrying about losing some key features we cannot do without.
Even so, one thing will remain certain – Apple will always price their iPhone models at a premium. That brings us to arguably the most vitriolic opinion that Android fans have about the Apple users – that they are all rich idiots who are getting fleeced by Apple into paying a ridiculously high price for the iPhones especially since they are using “dated” hardware or “older technology”.
Well, we are not going to go into why Apple iPhones are not using “dated” hardware or “older technology” in this editorial, but we are going to address this perception that Apple users are stupid to pay so much money for a smartphone. Then we are going to show you why Apple iPhones are so expensive.
Why Pay So Much For An iPhone?
Let’s take a look at the top 3 reasons why Apple users are willing to pay top dollar for their Apple iPhones.
1. It’s More Than Just A Smartphone
First of all, the Apple iPhone is more than just a smartphone. When you purchase an Apple iPhone, you are purchasing the iPhone ecosystem as well – everything from access to the 2.0 million apps (as of June 2016) in the Apple App Store to the free iMessage, FaceTime and iCloud services. Android users may argue that they have similar features but what they have is sometimes a pale shadow of what the Apple iOS platform currently offers.
For example, the Apple iPhone can automatically and continuously back itself up to iCloud since October 2011 with iOS 5. If something bad happens, the user can restore the entire contents of the iPhone using nothing more than an Internet connection. You don’t even need to use iTunes on a computer to perform this backup and/or restore process.
When we first wrote this editorial 3 years later in 2014, no Android smartphone could do that. Of course, we had no doubt even then that they would eventually implement something similar. True enough, Android 6.0 Marshmallow introduced such an ability in October 2015 (4 years after iOS), although it only works with Android apps that “target API version 23“.
2. It’s About Software Assurance
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You are also buying “software assurance” in the form of iOS upgrades and updates. The recently released iOS 10, for example, was made available for the following devices, immediately and simultaneously :
Google also releases Android upgrades on a periodical basis. However, those upgrades are not made available for many Android smartphones (even if they are of the same generation), and often, they are made available long after Google releases them.
This is due to the fact that the Android platform is “highly fragmented” – there is a wide variation in hardware features and packaged software, as well as manufacturer preferences. This has resulted in significantly slower or shorter “software assurance”, especially for older or less popular models.
Google released Android 6.0 Marshmallow on October 5, 2015. It took Samsung 4 months to start releasing it for the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge smartphones. ASUS also took 4 months to start rolling out their Marshmallow update for the ZenFone 2 Laser and ZenFone Zoom smartphones. That’s actually fast, because in the past, they would take about twice as long to release a major operating system update.
Of course, many brands choose not to offer the upgrade at all. Some, like HTC, promise an Android 6.0 Marshmallow upgrade for several smartphones, but remain stuck in development hell. The Marshmallow upgrade for the HTC One M7 was even scrapped, after being announced. In the meantime, Android 7.0 Nougat was just released…
3. It’s The Apple Experience
When someone considers the cost of a platform, it should be done holistically because when you buy an Apple iPhone, you are really buying an experience.
Apple iPhone users (generally) want a smartphone that “just works“. They do not care so much about specifications, as much as they do the experience of using the iPhone. They do not care so much about the number of features, as they do the experience of those features that are available. For that, they are willing to pay top dollar.
The less fragmented nature of the iOS platform also makes it very easy for them to transition from one model to another. The user interface and apps work exactly the same, whether you’re using the new iPhone 7, or the much older iPhone 5.
The Android platform allows for a customisable experience, but Apple fans don’t really want that. Or at least they are willing to sacrifice that for the familiarity of a consistent user interface.
Now, let us show you exactly what they are paying so much for. The real reasons why Apple iPhones are so expensive…
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Why Apple iPhones Are So Expensive
Many people consider Apple elitist for selling the iPhone at very high prices, and there’s no doubt that they have the highest profit margin in the industry. However, their profit margin isn’t an accurate reflection of their nett profit per unit.
What most people forget is that the price of each iPhone includes a lot of ancillary costs, so comparing the profit margin of Apple iPhones vs. Android smartphones is like comparing apples to oranges (pun intended).
1. Apple iOS And Services Are Not Free
Android manufacturers can get away with low margins and therefore, lower prices, because Google provides the Android OS free of charge. On top of that, Google finances the infrastructure for free services that they provide to the Android platform, like Google Hangout and Google Drive.
With the exception of any custom software or services provided by the Android smartphone manufacturer, everything on the Android platform is being financed and maintained by Google.
Apple, on the other hand, has development teams working on the iOS operating system, as well as supporting software and services like iTunes, the App Store, iMessage, FaceTime and iCloud. They also build and maintain their own infrastructure to support those services.
All that comes at significant cost. Apple’s massive 500,000 sf data center in Maiden, North Carolina, for example, costs a whooping US$ 1 billion to build.
2. Apple Uses Their Own Processors
Apple designs their own processors for the iPhone – a cost that no Android manufacturer has to bear. On top of that, their processors cost more to make because they have a lower production run than the Qualcomm or MediaTek processors that most Android devices use.
3. They Just Cost More To Produce
All-in-all, the costs of the parts used to make an iPhone are consistently much higher than that of an Android phone. Here’s what research firm HIS calculated as the cost of manufacturing the iPhone 6 :
Apple iPhone 6 with 16GB of built-in memory costs $200 to build in parts and labor, while a 128GB model requires $247 to put together. The iPhone 6 Plus production costs on the other hand, range between $216 for a 16GB model and $263 for the 128GB version.
The most expensive component in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is their display. Made by LG Display and Japan Display, the component costs $45 for the iPhone 6, and $52.50 for the iPhone 6 Plus. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 covers the screen of both models.
Apple’s 20nm A8 processor is made by TSMC and, combined with an attached co-processor, costs about $20. NXP Semiconductors provides the NFC chip for the iPhone 6 range. Combined with the rest of its built-in sensors, it costs $22 for both devices.
As you can see, the production cost of the Apple iPhone 6 is higher than what some Android smartphones are selling for, even if those Android smartphones have similar or even better specifications on paper. This is why the iPhone will always be more expensive than comparable Android smartphones, even if Apple somehow sees it fit to sell it at cost.
If you tack on their substantial ancillary costs, you can see why Apple has to sell their iPhones at a premium. The research firm HIS calculated the iPhone 6‘s profit margin as 69%, but that does not include ancillary costs. Apple’s nett profit is certainly much lower once you factor everything in, albeit still much higher than the industry norm.
Does This Mean That Apple iPhones Are Better?
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No. I’ve said it many times before, and I will say it again. Both platforms have their pros and cons, and they are getting closer in capability as they leapfrog each other in features. Whatever new idea or feature that’s introduced in one platform will eventually make it to the other platform, so it would be stupid to insist that one platform is significantly superior to the other.
It is this convergence of features and capability that will eventually limit Apple’s reach. If you can get a good Android smartphone with all of the key features you need at a much lower cost, it will be harder for many users to justify paying a premium for the Apple experience.
Ultimately, it all depends on the kind of user you are, and how much you are willing to pay. You won’t go wrong with either platform, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just because Apple iPhones are so expensive does not mean they are better than Android smartphones. But it doesn’t mean you are not getting your money’s worth either.
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