A simp is, according to slang definition, “someone who’s thought to be overly invested in a woman and acts submissive to them or who does too much in hopes of dating them.”

But where did the word actually come from, and why has it become so popular in modern culture?

Read on to find out the true simp meaning, it’s history and how it’s used today.

What Does Simp Stand For?

According to dictionary.com’s slang dictionary, simp stands for “Sucker Idolising Mediocre P*ssy” however, the word simp has actually been around for more than 100 years.

What Does Simp Mean?

According to its slang definition, a simp is someone who’s thought to be overly invested in a woman and acts submissive to them or who does too much in hopes of dating them (especially when the woman isn’t interested).

The most popular definition on Urban Dictionary (out of 469 pages worth of definitions) is from Pimpinnotsimpin, who described it as “Someone who does way too much for a person they like”, giving the example of

“Brian shu the simp: I bought her a car and a whole ass house and we not even dating!
Nathan the pimp: U a simp.”

The word has quite a resemblance to the term “nice guy”, which has been quite commonly used over the last decade or so.`

The Origins of Simp

Simp can first be traced back to 1903, when it was listed as an official shortening of “simpleton” (an insulting way to call someone stupid) in the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English and appeared in the New York Times as far back as 1923.

It began being used in hip hop in the 80s by rappers such as E-40 and Too Short with the connotation of someone being ‘soft’ and ‘overly sympathetic’.

The word then saw a comeback in the 2000s after the release of Sippin’ On Some Syrup by Three 6 Mafia, which opens with the bars “I’m trill working the wheel, a pimp, not a simp / Keep the dope fiends higher than the Goodyear Blimp.” 

It then fell out of mainstream use (but still saw some use in “incel” and “manosphere” forums) until December 2019, when TikTok user polo.boyy uploaded a video where he welcomed guys who comfort females ranting about relationship problems to what he called “simp nation”.

The video got over 166,000 likes and over 800 comments in two weeks and kick-started the resurgence of the use of simp, with the hashtag now having over 21.4B views on TikTok.

Simp Nation TikTok Challenge

Simp Nation is a trend on TikTok, which follows polo.boyy’s format of explaining a situation that will wind them up in the ‘Friend Zone’ and welcoming that person to “simp nation” while a mashup of Rockstar by Post Malone and Hey Ya by Outkast plays in the background. The hashtag #simpnation now has over 550 million views on TikTok.

Simp Emoji

Yet more evidence to prove that simp has been truly adopted by Generation Z is the fact that a particular emoji. Known officially as the Pleading Face emoji, it is often used by someone trying to win compassion or sympathy from the person they’re sending it to.

It’s because of this reasoning that some people online suggest it can be associated with guys who are simps, because they’re attempting to come across as emotional and sensitive in order to win a woman’s affection.

Simp vs Incel: What’s The Difference?

The main difference between a simp and an incel is that a simp is someone who will make overly romantic or nice comments to a girl online, or do anything for her, in the hope of receiving attention and affection. An incel wants sex or a relationship from a girl, but doesn’t get it, and so then blames women as the overarching reason.

The words simp and Incel are often used interchangeably. If you’ve not heard of incel before, it stands for ‘Involuntary Celibate,’ and essentially means a man who wants sex but rarely gets it, usually as a result of toxic behaviour, i.e. he expects to get sex from a woman simply by being nice towards her.

Both simps and incels tend to have the same ulterior motive however, and that is to receive something from a girl just because they are nice and complimentary towards her.

Simps & Nice Guy Syndrome

A simp could also be viewed as someone who exhibits what is known as Nice Guy Syndrome, a term that was originally floated around in the early 2000s. Nice guy syndrome is a topic all in itself, but essentially it refers to a man who will act nicely towards a female in the hope it will eventually lead to a romantic connection.

There is separation to be made between ‘Nice Guys’ and guys who are just genuinely nice. To help indicate the difference, those in the former camp are referred to as Nice Guys, with the trademark symbol. According to Geek Feminism the definition of Nice Guy Syndrome is “men who view themselves as prototypical ‘nice guys,’ but whose ‘nice deeds’ are in reality only motivated by attempts to passively please women into a relationship and/or sex.”

Nice guy syndrome can often be subject of debate because women will often say they’re looking for a “nice guy” as opposed to a guy who exhibits f**kboy behaviours. So, when a guy is nice to a woman, but doesn’t end up with a relationship or romantic encounter, he may end up making comments that offend the woman. Some may consider this a good example of double standards in the world of love.

So there you go, you can now proudly tell everyone you know what a simp is.

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The post What Is A Simp? Simp Definition, History & More appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Outerwear 101 – Whether you’re navigating alpine slopes, climbing over mountain ranges or city-hopping in chilly climes – it’s essential that you choose warm, reliable outerwear that is fit for purpose.

There has never been so much choice in terms of both quality and budget as there is right now. However, the general consensus has shifted away from harmful synthetic materials to keep us snug, and more towards natural progressive products that lessen our impact on the environment – as we aim to preserve the longevity of our beloved winter seasons. 

There are three main categories of men’s winter jackets to consider in total – Technical, Casual and All-Rounder. Technical jackets, for example, are often light and thin to allow for maximum flexibility when skiing/snowboarding, mountaineering or climbing. They are also highly breathable, meaning you stay warm and moisture-free when the challenge heats up. 

Casual jackets are made for the man-about-town and offer total comfort and warmth when a touch of winter style is needed. These pieces are often bulkier, with a longer leg cut helping you feel cosy and protected when temperatures plummet, along with excellent wind protection to help eliminate the chill factor.   

Then there are even heated jackets.

These jackets tend to come with large hoods and high collars to add to your defences against wintery elements, but if you’re expecting lots of snowfall or showers it would be a sound decision to check overall water resistance, as casual designs are often made using down insulation which can react negatively to moisture. 

The third category is the All-Rounder, a multi-functional layer for all occasions. It’s the type of jacket that offers genuine practicality whether you’re out in the mountains or taking the edge off a cold morning commute. 

All-Rounder jackets tend to offer great warmth and moisture resistance ideal for a range of winter climates. They’re also well insulated and provide a good level of breathability to elude overheating.   

Top brands also use a number of products and sub manufacturers to create layers that allow fabrics to withstand the winter freeze. A few to look out for are Gore-Tex, DWR coating and Pertex Quantum Insulation.

Gore-Tex jackets offer complete water resistance, perfect for snowy or rainy conditions at higher altitude. It is a technology used by some of the biggest outerwear brands around, across high-performance disciplines such as skiing and mountaineering. 

DWR (Durable Water Repellant) coating is added to fabrics, offering protection against light sleet and showers, but will not stand up against persistent moisture.  

The post 20 Best Outerwear Brands To Beat The Elements [2022] appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Growing a beard is the top of the pyramid for male rites of passage, just above surviving a wasp sting and not crying during the end of Bambi, it’s a process that tests many tenets of manhood.

The journey of growing a beard demands a fair whack of patience and resilience. You also need the courage to ignore those second glances in the office, during that awkward period where your so-called beard looks like you’re hungover for the sixth day in a row and losing the plot a little bit.

And with so many beard styles for men popping up all the time, going on a beard growing quest will help you to soon realise there’s never been a better time in modern history to give it a crack. Fifty-five per cent of men worldwide have some facial hair, and a beard is no longer the domain of barbarians and bikies.

Barbershops now offer comprehensive beard maintenance services, alongside the regular selection of men’s haircuts, and you’ll struggle to find a shopping arcade that doesn’t have some sort of quirky man-den selling various beard oils, creams, and razors to help you get those beard styles just right.

This brings us nicely onto the very subject of the best beard styles for men. A beard isn’t simply a beard, after all. With every Tom, Dick and Harry wanting to show off their individual personality, combined with the fact no two men will share the same follicular prowess, sifting through the best beard styles for men is no easy task.

A lot of the process will come down to trial and error, so make sure you’re prepared to spare the time to grow, trim and style your beard. Facial hair doesn’t grow long and thick overnight, after all. Fortunately, if you don’t have the time or the facial follicles to warrant a full lumberjack style beard, there are still plenty of beard styles for men everywhere.

So, allow us to take you through the most essential and the best beard styles for men.

RELATED: Beard Trimmers For The Hairy Gentleman

Designer Stubble Beard

A stubble beard is meant to be the natural consequence of not shaving for a period of time and is one of the easiest and most common bears for men. Some guys enjoy the challenge of maintaining the pretence of a 5 o’clock shadow as a permanent solution to their beard woes.

Irony aside, a stubble beard achieves that slightly dishevelled cool that makes you look indifferent to the scorn of your peers. Less composed than being facial hair-free, a bit of scruff suggests to others that the guy couldn’t care less if he doesn’t look ‘schmick’ all the time.

A stubble beard does, however, require weekly maintenance across the entire chin and jaw with a beard trimmer. Use a plastic attachment or handheld comb to determine the desired length – shorter teeth are usually better.

Ensure your work is even and neatly trimmed. Neglecting parts of your chin or jaw will result in a patchy beard, with an uneven look that will make you look like you got flustered and forgot the basics of shaving. Designer stubble suits men with strong oval or square features, as it will accentuate an existing jawline.

If your face is on the longer side, stubble will also frame your features, and square things up a little. Unfortunately, not everyone is invited to the party.  If you have a bit of extra baggage beneath your jawline, sit tight on the stubble beard. Trying to shave a jawline into rounded or plump features won’t fool anyone, and can draw attention to your affliction.

That being said, if you’re someone who is a victim of serious razor burn, using an electric beard trimmer to maintain a little bit of scruff might be a very masculine alternative to the embarrassment of red splotches across your chin and neck.

Chevron Beard Style

Admittedly more of a moustache style than a beard, the Chevron look was favoured by distinguished British chaps in World War II photos, before its adoption and immortalisation by Tom Selleck.

Although the chevron is a 20th-century classic, it is sufficiently versatile and masculine so adapting it for a contemporary audience won’t see you laughed out of the office. The chevron derives its name from military stripes that denote rank – hence, it forms a bent triangular shape.

You don’t need to be an old-money Brit or action hero to pull the chevron beard off. Simply let the moustache ends grow evenly across the top of your lip for several weeks, steadily brushing it with a comb to train the hairs to take the desired silhouette.

Using wax can help to shape the look – your barber will give you pointers on the right product for the thickness and texture of your hair. However, many men need more than 12 weeks to allow the shorter hairs beneath their nostrils to grow out to the edge of the moustache.

Keep everything else hair-free, as a stubble beard will undermine the clear contrast of the look. Keep it tight and neatly trimmed around the corners of your mouth – any longer and it becomes a handlebar in the making.

The chevron beard looks mustard on men with oval-shaped features. A prominent moustache can appear top-heavy over noticeably angular features, however. If that’s you, think about a smaller variant for proportion’s sake.

Scruffy Beard

Believe it or not, a scruffy beard is indeed a look that many men aspire to achieve, most likely due to its low maintenance and relative ease. Let your facial hair grow naturally for a good couple of weeks, without doing anything to the beard in this time. This will allow the hair to grow from all follicles – and could have you well on your way to growing a fully-fledged beard if you wish – and it doesn’t matter so much if you end up with some patches in places, as this is part of the scruffy beard’s charm.

At around four weeks, you may way to wield your beard trimmer to tidy up the neckline and potentially the top section of your cheeks, unless you want to end up with a wolverine-like beard as pictured below. And, because of its unkempt nature, a scruffy beard will inevitably have an itchy phase or phases. To help combat this, you’ll want to invest in a good quality beard oil and a moisturiser to keep the skin and the hair hydrated.

Wolverine Beard

If you’ve seen Logan, or any of the X-Men movies, you might have rediscovered how sideburns can look decent outside black-and-white portraits from the 1860’s.

Most of us associate sideburns with number two Australian poster boy Hugh Jackman, but its origins are steeped in history. The sideburn beard became fashionable during the American Civil War (by a bloke called Burnside, points for originality) and has fluctuated in popularity ever since.

It took off again in the mid-’70s in a less dramatic cut to its wartime forebear. Sideburns extend from the tip of the cheekbone below the ear, and down the sides of the face. Growing sideburns follows the same expectations of a classic beard.

The chin is usually left free of any facial hair, with an optional moustache. Let the sides grow out for several weeks, while consistently shaving your chin to emphasise the side whiskers. Regular brushing will neaten the look of this beard unless your plan is to go for the extravagant Victorian-era mutton chop thing.

Substantial beard growth that covers most of your cheeks will need a bit of love from a decent moisturiser – the skin underneath still needs a good clean on a regular basis. The good news is that sideburns are fairly universal but tend to complement blokes with long or angular face shapes, by adding depth to the lower angles of the face.

Men with a square or oval face shape don’t really stand to benefit considering they already have pronounced facial structure, so if you belong to this category, then maybe leave it to Hugh Jackman and Civil War re-enactors to carry this beard. 

Full Beard

If the last few options smack of unnecessary compromise, then the full beard is for you. It’s the manliest, most primal option and one that all men secretly aspire to at some stage. As the most prototypically masculine option on this list, it’s also the hardest beard to pull off.

Achieving this masculine beard doesn’t depend on your skill with a razor or persistence. This is because no amount of careful shaping or waiting will trump the genetic precondition of even, thick growth – and not everyone won the genetic lottery.

Your full beard must be even across the board, with no patches of weak or absent facial hair. No reason not to give it a crack, though. There’s only really one way to do this, and that’s to just grow that shit. Don’t trim anything before work in the morning, or try to shave it before you’ve achieved peak density. Seriously. Let your beard grow for well beyond eight weeks. Then, look at upkeep.

The rugged Viking beard look might make you feel like a man, but the company director might form a different perspective. If you’ve got shaky hands, make fortnightly visits to the barber’s chair for touch-ups and trims to keep the wildness in check.

Hygiene-wise, regular moisturising will keep the skin underneath your beard hydrated, and shampooing your beard will clean out dead skin and bacteria that can (and will) form if you’re not careful. If you’ve got the goods to pull it off, a full beard can flatter just about any face shape. A beard disguises perceived facial defects, such as a soft jawline or poorly defined cheekbones. If you worry that your sharp, defined features pose a safety hazard, a full beard can soften this for your peace of mind.

Short Beard

Not all men have ambitions to resemble their pillaging Scandinavian ancestors. To this end, short beards are the leaner, less fierce cousins of a long beard. Instead of letting the beard grow out completely, close to the cheekbone and several centimetres below the jaw, short beards are shaved closer to the chin on the sides, with minimal length outwards.

These beards require a similar period of growth, but much more maintenance than their fuller beard brethren. Exercise the same patience you would for a longer beard, allowing 8-12 weeks of untouched growth to ensure balance and density. Then it’s a matter of ‘shaping’ it, (i.e. doing some beard surgery with clippers and a comb) to reduce the longer ends and shave the beard beneath the tip of your cheekbone.

Use clippers to define the tip of the beard across your cheek, and remember to shave your neck to finalise the tidiness of your beard. The result is a cleaner – but no less masculine – alternative to an untamed long beard.

A reasonable compromise for corporate guys and good news for men of different facial hair blessings. Short beards are a democratic option that don’t favour or disfavour anybody in particular.  Most blokes can make them work, and they’re tidy enough to preserve your reputation in stuffy corporate gigs. A short beard is one of the best beard options in our opinion.

Goatee Beard

Of all beard types, it’s the goatee that cops a hard rap due to its typical associations with creepy dudes and angry frontmen from bands that you weren’t allowed to listen to in high school. That’s hardly fair, though. Goatee beards deserve a second shot at life outside the angst of 90’s nu-metal.

The goatee beard is a surprise contender for versatility – it can be styled with longer growth beneath the chin, or combined with the chevron moustache to create something similar to the Van Dyke beard. Plus, Brad Pitt made it work, which puts it further into the realms of acceptability.

A goatee can take shape in a month of decent growth, but just make sure to keep the sides of your face clean-shaven, while maximising beard growth on your chin and around the mouth area. Use your beard trimmer skills to tidy up and keep the moustache and chin are connected, otherwise, this beard can fall back into Limp Bizkit territory.

A goatee beard doesn’t ask for a great deal of dedication due to its lesser beard length, but you’ll still need regular maintenance with your beard trimmer to keep the beard length and moustache neat.

The goatee beard complements round features by adding definition and breaking up the chubbiness to some degree. If you have sharp, pointy features, let your goatee beard grow out a bit to soften the look, as you may risk looking like you could slice open a cardboard box with your facial furniture.

Long Beard

Choosing the best long beard for your face can actually be a tricky process. You need to consider your individual face shape, as it will determine the beard length and the best beard shape that will work best for you. Men with oval face shapes, for example, can rest safe in the knowledge pretty much any beard will suit them. Men with square face shapes, however, will want to introduce some round shaping into their beards, instead of opting for something more angular.

Fortunately, with long beards, you will have enough facial hair to play with so that you can find the best beard that works for you – just prepare to put in the time and dedication to letting the beardhair grow out.

The main thing to remember with long beards is that you perform regular maintenance, such as keeping the edges neat and tidy, and removing any straggling beard hairs with a pair of scissors. Leave your long beard to grow naturally for too long and you’ll soon start looking like someone who doesn’t understand the term ‘personal hygiene’.

A great example of a long beard is the Yeard. Named as such because it refers to letting your facial hair grow for a full year without any cutting – aside from the routine maintenance mentioned above – a yeard will gift you long beard facial fuzz that will have other men green with envy.

Clean Shaven Beard

Yeah, I know, this is a beard list. But sometimes it’s necessary to illustrate the opposite. For some men, it’s a tragic certainty that a beard just isn’t going to happen. You might have an unfortunate soul patch in a conspicuous spot.

Maybe the follicular Gods just didn’t like you enough to bless you with the right density for a full Viking beard. Either way, you just can’t do it. Your only option is to get cosy with lots of shaving cream and a razor and hope for the best. A well-executed close shave might not give you the Magnum P.I. boost of virility you’d hope for, but it does impart some crucial benefits. Going clean-shaven is safe and reliable.

Clean-shaven men look respectable, composed, and like they’re on top of themselves. Importantly, it’s unlikely to risk retrospective humiliation, as different beards go in and out of fashion. The best way to execute a proper close shave is like many things – the old-school way. The dodgy disposable razors in your cupboard are an inferior, poor man’s alternative to double-edged or safety razors.

Spend a minute or two softening your cheeks, jaw, and neck with a damp and warm towel. Use a shaving brush to lather shaving cream on the desired areas and then use short, careful strokes with the grain (watch the direction of growth and follow that), to achieve the optimum beard length – in this case, none. Less pressure is better – you can always go over the area again, but bruising the skin is never worth it.

Wash your blade after each stroke. Make absolutely sure to moisturise the crap out of the shaven area afterwards. Razor burn flatters no man.

Beard And Moustache

If you can grow a moustache, chances are you can grow a beard too. Some of the beards already mentioned on this page incorporate the two, but the beard and moustache look is one where the end goal is firmly set. Whereas some beards will encompass facial hair over the upper, a beard and moustache style sees that hair grown out a bit further, so that you can style it too, such as into a handlebar.

It’s a solid option for men with round faces, and the excess facial hair will help to draw attention away from your less-chiselled jawline and lack of any real facial features. As with most other beard styles, you’ll want to experiment with the beard length, and you’ll want to enlist a beard trimmer to keep the edges neat and tidy so that your beard can create the illusion of a more pronounced jawline.

That’s not to say men with square or rectangular face shapes need not apply, as if anything, the beard and moustache look can also help to elongate the face shape, making you look more rugged than you ever thought possible.

Handlebar Moustache Beard

No one can resist a curly moustache. The handlebar accompaniment to a beard has seen various peculiar iterations over the centuries. It’s been seen on nasty German dictators and big-city bartenders who wear suspenders and refer to themselves as ‘mixologists’, but still can’t pick up.

It’s likely you fall somewhere in the middle of these extremes, so don’t be frightened off by its claimants. The handlebar moustache can be done with or without a beard. This style is achieved by lengthening the moustache ends, and twisting them with bucketloads of wax to hold everything together. The ‘petit’ variant doesn’t extend beyond the corners of the mouth, but fuller variants impose no limit, besides genetics, on how far the ends can go.

A solid handlebar demands patience and a shitload of work twisting and shaping the ends. After growing it out to such an extent that the hairs closest to your nose reach beyond the corners of your mouth, you need to begin waxing and brushing the handlebar daily. Twist the ends and pull them (gently) towards your ears or higher, depending on the desired shape.

Heavier wax gets more bang for your buck, with the trade-off that heavy-duty waxes tend to be quite shiny. The handlebar’s dimensions depend on your face shape. Round faces suit a petit handlebar, as a long moustache will look out of proportion. Square or oval shape features sit somewhere in the middle. The best thing to do is experiment initially, and see how your unique dimension’s suit (or don’t suit) the look. Be brave.

Horseshoe Beard

If you have aspirations to join the Hell’s Angels, you might need one of these first. Sometimes mistaken for the handlebar moustache, the horseshoe or biker moustache is named due to its (you guessed it) resemblance to metallic plates worn to protect a horse’s feet.

It became popular among fat dudes on Harleys and wrestlers like Hulk Hogan. Growing a horseshoe moustache is a test of your willpower and genetic potential. Not all men can achieve an unbroken moustache line down to their chin in the right thickness.

Most barbers recommend growing facial hair to the point where the beard length is bordering on bushy territory, then shaving the edges off the cheekbone and jaw. Trying to sculpt a moustache as it grows can risk uneven shape, due to styling errors and sloppy clipper work. So, leave your facial hair alone for 8 or so weeks before having a sit-down in a barber’s chair to shave off excess hair and sculpt the horseshoe shape into place.

The width of the moustache ends shouldn’t be too chunky, nor should it be wispy thin. Keep the proportions of your face in mind; narrower features suit a thinner horseshoe, whereas a broad face asks for the opposite – but still try to avoid extremes altogether.

Before you put on leather pants and fire up your Harley, remember that this beard style doesn’t work on every Comanchero-wannabe. Long faces should stay away – this will just draw attention to your elongated features. If you have broad, plump cheeks though, the horseshoe takes some weight out of your face and can create a narrower profile.

Read Next

• Best Straight Razor Brands For The Ultimate Close Shave
• How To Grow A Beard

The post Popular Men’s Beard Styles To Wear In 2022 appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Looking for some stylish taper fade inspiration? Or do you just want to know “what is a taper fade?” well, you’ve come to the right place.

When it comes to short hairstyles, and haircuts for men on the whole, you’d be forgiven for thinking the minefield of cuts would be pretty simple to navigate, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Despite a lack of length when concerning men’s short haircuts, there are actually myriad options to choose from

One such option that you may not be aware of is the taper fade.

What Is A Taper Fade Haircut?

A taper fade is essentially a combination of a taper haircut and a fade haircut.

Taper, by its very definition, means to gradually get smaller towards one end, or as is the case with haircuts, to gradually get shorter. If you’re someone who likes to keep some length on top of their head, but can’t tolerate longer hair around the sides of the head, the taper fade could be your saviour.

Taper Fade vs Fade: What’s The Difference?

The main difference between a fade haircut and a taper fade haircut is that with a fade, the hair all around the headline will be cut at the same level, a taper fade, generally, only concerns the hair on the sides of the head, over the ears (although will also extend to the neckline so as not to be completely out of proportion).

It’s an incredibly versatile haircut too, as you can choose whether or not you have your hair cut down to skin level (something that is far more common with regular fade haircuts), and you get to decide how long you leave the hair on top.

Low Taper Fade vs High Taper Fade: What’s The Difference?

There is also the question concerning a low taper vs a high taper. The main difference between a low taper and a high taper is where the hair is cut up to. A low taper will see the hair cut at the lowest portion of your head, around the neckline. A high taper will see the hair cut above your ears.

What Are The Best Taper Fade Haircuts For Men?

But of course, within the taper fade hairstyle, there are several variations from which to choose from, and your face shape or hair type may dictate which one is best for you. And so, to help you through the dizzying world of taper fade haircuts, we’ve compiled together a list of some of the most popular options, complete with images so you have something to take to your barber with you next time you need a cut.

Taper Fade Haircut FAQ

The post 10 Best Taper Fade Haircuts For Men 2022 appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

• After going on a 70% rally in July, excitement for Ethereum’s upcoming Merge seems to have dwindled, with ETH’s price tracking most sidelways for the month of August, currently down a total over 3.5% from August 1.
• Ethereum is currently changing hands $1,555 (AU$2,283) per token and still commands the second largest market cap in the crypto market, valued at $187 billion (AU$274 billion) overall.
• Ethereum’s long-established position as a market leader and intrinsic technological value grants it a dominance rivalled only by Bitcoin (BTC) — despite growing threats of competitors.
• Emboldened by with the recent surge in ETH’s price, many experts are feel renewed confidence for the future of the Ethereum network and predict that its price will easily increase by more than 1000% by 2030.

After suffering delays and setbacks for years, Ethereum have finally announced that the transition to Ethereum 2.0 also known as the “Merge”, which takes its older Proof-of-Work blockchain (slower and environmentally hazardous) and upgrades it to a faster, more environmentally friendly one called Proof-of-Stake. 

With the Merge coming in a little over two weeks, (currently scheduled for September 15) the market is undeniably tense—with many experts remaining completely divided on their predictions concerning the price of ETH following a successful Merge.

Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, predicts that Ethereum will more than double in value from here to reach a $5000 valuation by May next year, following on from a successful Merge. In a lengthy blog post titled “ETH-Flexive”, Hayes outlines his extensive reasoning for why he believes the price of Ethereum will surge post-Merge.

“If the merge is successful… traders will buy ETH today, knowing that the higher the price goes, the more the network will be used and the more deflationary it will become, driving the price higher, causing the network to be used more, and so on and so forth,” he explained.

“This is a virtuous circle for bulls,” Hayes concludes.

On the other side of the fence sits an experienced trading firm called Galois Capital, who have an extremely solid track record of predicting events the rest of the crypto market didn’t see coming.

Galois told their 50k Twitter followers that the broader market is undoubtedly overexcited about the Merge and hasn’t properly priced in any of the downsides.

In a somewhat-technical Twitter thread Galois explained the overall reasoning for their contrarian approach:

“When everyone is doing the same thing, it is generally good to do the opposite.”

Galois doubled down on this idea, saying that even though there’s a very slight risk of an unsuccessful Merge, the “failure risks are not priced in” and any discussions about these risks are being “hand-waved away by Merge bulls.”

What Is Ethereum?

First conceived in 2013 by Canadian-Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum has drawn widespread recognition for both its utility as a decentralised means of currency transfer and its ability to function as a system of trust verification that’s capable of forming the backbone of technological infrastructure.

ETH’s ability to autonomously and reliably validate digital transactions through smart contracts contributed to its popularity among the early crypto community, as well as being supported more recently by technology giants like Microsoft and Intel. By January 2018, Ethereum had established its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, trailing only Bitcoin by a margin that Goldman Sachs has predicted ETH could eventually manage to close.

Large market cap coins like Binance Coin, Solana, and Dogecoin mirrored Ethereum’s price surge over the last week of November, potentially indicating a decrease in the secondary influence of Bitcoin momentum, which fell by 0.50 percent.

A potential obstacle that may stand in the way of Ethereum’s price momentum (and the crypto industry as a whole’s price momentum) in December is the looming uncertainty of impending cryptocurrency legislation in India, with India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently stating: “The risk that cryptocurrencies can lead to undesirable activities is being closely monitored.”

12 Month Ethereum Price Prediction (2022)

With the Ethereum and Bitcoin price booming at the start of December 2020 (before their prices fell, which you can read about here), many experts and investors will be anticipating its value to track its growing market dominance, which has steadily increased throughout last year.

Exemplifying the volatility and unpredictability of its price relative to other financial assets, end-of-year Ethereum price predictions provided across a panel of 50 experts, established by Finder in October 2021, ranged from estimates as low as $3,1733 AUD to as high as $14,103 AUD.

According to Finder, Dr Iwa Salami, an associate professor at The University of East London, noted: “Ethereum has the advantage of being the first mover” and:

“Cheaper and faster blockchains are still not threatening competitors to Ethereum in this respect, which means Ethereum is likely to maintain its dominant position for some time to come.”

At the same time, some are making sure not to get carried away by ETH’s recent momentum, citing potential issues with its increasing fees and the growing threat of competition as other currencies gain steam. In the aforementioned Finder report, partner at Panxora Crypto, Gavin Smith, gave an Ethereum 2021 price prediction (for the close of 2021) of $4,231 AUD, opining:

“The costs have reached a point where most smart contract operations are now too expensive without integrating a level-two solution.”

Other smart contract blockchains are also coming out with better technology solutions that support a greater number of transactions at a lower cost (though they are not as battle-experienced as Ethereum, and could run into their own problems). This battle will impact Ethereum’s price predictions in the years to come.

5 Year Ethereum Price Prediction (2021 – 2026)

Over the longer term, some experts predict that Ethereum will be able to closely rival the price of Bitcoin. On the bold end of the prediction spectrum, hedge fund manager at BlockTower Capital Rahul Rai predicts that ETH has a chance of overtaking Bitcoin, which currently sits at around $57,000 USD ($80,407 AUD), at some point in 2022, Business Insider reports.

Popular AI-based forecast website WalletInvestor.com has previously forecasted Ethereum to be valued above $7,000 USD ($9,874 AUD) in 2023. In contrast, crypto trading platform Prime XBT has predicted that ETH will return to its current price in 2023 after its trajectory peaks in 2022.

A conservative estimate from Thomson Reuters Futurist Joseph Raczynski sets $12,000 USD ($16,927 AUD) as a forecast for 2025, according to Finder.

The mean figure drawn from the Finder expert panel’s predictions is an Ethereum’s price of $15,364 by 2025, and an Etheruem price prediction beyond $50,000 USD ($70,533 AUD) by 2030.

Ethereum Price Prediction Conclusions

• Ethereum’s future trajectory will depend on whether or not its competitors are able to challenge its prominence among investors and users of blockchain technology, and the degree to which ETH is able to establish itself as the backbone of the Web3 ecosystem.
• Lagging transaction times and ‘gas’ fees that increase in line with growing usage are a threat to Ethereum’s leading position in the market, as competitors like Cardano are able to process an exponentially larger amount of transactions at a cheaper rate.
• “The Merge” announced in recent weeks indicates that the Ethereum network may finally solve the problem of high gas fees by moving to a faster, more efficient network mechanism called Proof-of-Stake.
• Ethereum is likely to benefit from the increasing levels of investment flowing into global digital assets, as the recognition of cryptocurrency’s legitimacy continues to expand.
• Although the current instances of fiscal tightening from governments around the world can cause markets to tumble, Ethereum is positioned to weather the long-term storm better than most owing to its inherently valuable technological capabilities and its status as a market leader.
• Provided that the cryptocurrency market remains stable enough for awareness and adoption to continue to grow, Ethereum is well-positioned as a potentially revolutionary technology and a possible challenger of Bitcoin, with its prominence likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

RISK STATEMENT

This article is of a general nature only, and is intended for solely informational purposes. This is not financial advice. Never invest more money than you can afford to lose into any crypto.

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• Bitcoin (BTC) has been having a bit of a disappointing month, after rallying hard through June & July, the flagship cryptocurrency is currently down 12.5% since the beginning of August.
  BTC has been struggling to stay above the $20k line for the past two weeks, with BTC at the time of writing chaging hands for US$19,878 (AU$29,177) — down an eye-watering 71% from its all-time-high on November 10, 2021.
• Bitcoin still maintains its status as the cryptocurrency market leader, with a market capitalization of US$380 billion (AU$558 billion).
• Despite suffering from major volatility in the short-term, the probability that Bitcoin will continue to gain in value over the very long-term seems likely to most cryptocurrency experts and analysts.

Over the last 30-days, amidst a broader crypto market slump, the price of Bitcoin has been struggling to maintain a solid hold anywhere above its fabled $20k support line. Bitcoin is valued at US$19,878 (AU$29,177) at the time of writing.

Experts and commentators throughout the world of finance have offered a wide range of reasons for Bitcoin’s positive price action including; a more “dovish” Federal Reserve, steadier interest rate expectations & more calm on the geopolitical front abroad..

However, in slightly bearish news: whales, investors or institutions that hold more than 10,000 Bitcoin are beginning to sell their BTC holdings in a bid to reduce losses and potentially prepare for a longer-term downturn. For the first time ever, a substantial number of these whales are not convicted BTC investors, but institutions such as hedge funds or asset management firms that treat cryptocurrency as a high-risk asset and are less likely to hold for the long term.

Bitcoin’s (as well as the broader market’s) characteristic volatility is highlighted in the midst of these rapid price drops, most peculiarly in the sense that BTC’s sudden loss of one-fifth of its value is neither unprecedented nor overwhelmingly drastic in the context of its performance in the past few months.

Making short-term predictions about any asset is difficult, but owing to Bitcoin’s infamous volatility it’s even more difficult to do so with the flagship cryptocurrency. Experts are divided on whether or not Bitcoin can recover in price this year, as it would seem that Bitcoin remains on track to keep visiting new lows. With that said, experts hold a wide range of opinions regarding Bitcoin’s future price trajectory (one major investor recently warned Bitcoin could fall by 80% after tapering by the Fed).

Before we get into Bitcoin price predictions for 2022 and beyond, though, first, let’s have a little context about Bitcoin (BTC).

What is Bitcoin?

As the world’s first and most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has led blockchain technology’s revolutionary charge from the front since its inception. BTC blazed a trail when it initially established its place in popular consciousness in 2017, and in the years following it consequently afforded all other cryptocurrencies the possibility of flourishing in its wake.

Despite Bitcoin’s long-established prominence, it appears that those smaller cryptocurrencies that it once forged a path for are now beginning to close in on BTC’s lead, or are at least expanding their own share of market dominance. Major currencies seem to slowly but steadily be closing the gaps that have typically set BTC apart from them, in the sense that for some, their distance from Bitcoin’s market cap size is shrinking, and for others, the crypto investors’ level of recognition of their unique features is beginning to reach levels comparable to that of BTC.

Among the major reasons for Bitcoin’s increasing need to prove itself as market leader are serious questions around its technological versatility, such as those regarding its scalability and whether it can improve transaction speeds, leading BTC to face fierce competition from rival coins with their own unique capabilities.

As one example, Ethereum, in addition to offering an alternative currency and store of value in line with Bitcoin’s function, offers an entire ecosystem which many estimate has a strong potential to become the backbone of a decentralised world wide web, on which much of the world’s technological infrastructure will be built. This technological edge and the anticipation of its wide-ranging capabilities are likely major reasons why Ethereum has increased more in value in the past year than Bitcoin has by a substantial margin, reducing the difference in their total market caps, which nonetheless remains vast.

The fact that much of Bitcoin’s value is intrinsically tied to its very status as leader is also a danger in that, if growing concerns about its true suitability to become an essential part of the global economy manage to derail positive sentiment, attention may shift to another currency deemed more apt. As such there is a danger that Bitcoin’s value is overly reliant on anticipation and positive momentum rather than actual usable and non-replicable features.

Is Bitcoin A Safe Store Of Wealth?

Bitcoin is being used by some investors a store of wealth and a hedge against inflation, in a (somewhat) similar fashion to gold. However, its volatile nature means you should never invest more in Bitcoin than you can afford to lose. Its up and down nature naturally makes some investors jumpy. Is Bitcoin An Alternative To Gold?

Is Bitcoin An Alternative To Gold?

“There are some uncanny similarities between Bitcoin and gold,” ABC News business editor Ian Verrender wrote in an article posted in May.

“Like gold, Bitcoin is rare. The total supply has been limited to 21 million tokens. And the pace at which the tokens are released periodically is slowed, so that the final coin won’t be minted until around 2140… Unlike gold, however, Bitcoin is virtual. It exists in the ether and has no utility or use other than as a means of exchange.”

“[But] gold… has been on the decline since peaking in August last year. Even the chaotic slide on global bond markets in February and March this year failed to fire it up. Government bond prices cratered on fears of a return of global inflation, the kind of news that ordinarily would see gold spike.”

As DMARGE reported in July: “The inference here is that gold’s status as the one unassailable store of wealth, turned to during times of economic uncertainty, could be under threat – and perhaps Bitcoin, with its decentralised blockchain ledger and mutability, will rise to take its place. Either that or we’re all just getting more greedy…”

DMARGE spoke exclusively with James Whelan, Investment Manager at VFS Group in Sydney and co-host of business podcast The BIP Show to get his take on Bitcoin replacing gold earlier this year? He said:

“If everything stopped working and we had to actually go back to the barter system, it’s very handy to have gold in your safe, which is divisible and tradable. Whereas, if nothing’s working… your Bitcoin wallet is effectively as useless as a doorstop.”

“Part of the price of gold that’s factored into it is that ‘calamity value’. Bitcoin does not have that store of value.”

Another reason Bitcoin will never become a store of wealth in the same way gold is, Whelan said, is because governments and central banks are hesitant to support it.

“Governments don’t like it because they can’t track it (well, governments can track it, but people don’t think that they can). Governments don’t like the fact that [people are] using money which isn’t government-controlled… If they had the chance of replacing Bitcoin with their own central bank money, which is more controllable, then they would probably be opting to go in that direction.”

Will Bitcoin Be Accepted By Governments?

Mr Whelan, a little later on in 2021, told DMARGE: “I think that the investment community is now seeing that there needs to be an allocation to a certain amount of crypto because people are seeing it as an alternative asset and potentially, touch wood, god forbid, a store of wealth.”

“Look at the Bitcoin price vs the Gold price – annoyingly – inflation is absolutely pumping [so] why is gold not performing? Look at the Bitcoin price – potentially people are buying Bitcoin instead of Gold as that store of wealth against inflation… Maybe.”

Mr Whelan added: “Right now all eyes are on the SEC in the United States on their approval of the first crypto ETF (or the first bitcoin ETF), which will then mean that people will have a place [to invest]. Once it’s done and accredited by the SEC it falls under all of their rules about financial stability and it has all these boxes it needs to tick and it comes under the coverage of one of the largest markets in the world and one of the better regulators in one of the largest markets in the world.”

“If the SEC lets this [happen] it means the ETF will be approved, which then means people like me actually have somewhere to invest safely on the market on the same platform where everyone else can see all this stuff.”

“The investment community will have a more safe and secure place to actually have that area where I can say to a client on their portfolio report: ‘Look at this, as discussed, here is your 5% allocation to a Bitcoin ETF. It’s run by a reputable ETF provider, it’s on a market which is where all your other stuff is as well.’ That’s so important for a client to see.”

What Are The Threats To Bitcoin’s Dominance?

The largest of all threats to Bitcoin’s short term price and long-term trajectory alike, is that of governmental interference, which not only has the potential to ban the use of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, but also the potential to stifle the belief in its viability to succeed. With belief in Bitcoin’s future being crucial to its survival and levels of investment, announcements of increased regulations and bans, while not guaranteed to completely stop Bitcoin in its tracks, unavoidably have the capacity to have an enormous negative effect on BTC’s price and status.

Despite these concerns, Bitcoin’s reputation as the original cryptocurrency is nonetheless remarkable and tangibly powerful, and the considerable level of widespread belief in its potential to cement its position the world’s primary digital currency is exemplified by instances like governmental investment in it, growing mainstream media coverage of its activity, and perhaps most notably in the past year, endorsements from major companies and its inclusion (in ETF form) on traditional markets.

As such, any substantial indicator of progress in being adopted and embraced by societies, which is perhaps most evident in the case of El Salvador making BTC its national currency, tends to provide a boost to the momentum underpinning Bitcoin’s mission to establish itself as a functioning backbone of the world’s monetary infrastructure.

You could also argue more eco-friendly (and faster transacting) cryptos like Ethereum – and those that are making a name for themselves beating Ethereum at its own game (but which are yet to prove themselves over the long term) like Cardano, Solana and Nano – are a threat to Bitcoin’s dominance. But many day to day investors see Bitcoin more as a yardstick and a hedge against inflation than a tool. So if you look at it that way, better technology and a growing crypto market is good for Bitcoin too.

Does Bitcoin’s Price Still Affect Other Cryptocurrencies?

Judging by the last flash crash, in many cases, yes. Bitcoin’s drop was followed by slumps in other big tokens, including Ethereum, Binance’s BNB, Solana, Cardano and Ripple’s XRP. But some would argue other segments are becoming more self-sufficient at generating optimism and value. At the moment though Bitcoin’s price swings do still typically affect the market as a whole.

Bitcoin Price Prediction 2022

Matthew Hyland, a blockchain analyst, made a BTC price prediction of $351,676 AUD by January 2022, citing the likelihood that momentum will explode once the $100,000 USD milestone is surpassed. This also comes from NextAdvisor’s aforementioned survey.

Bitcoin Price Prediction 2023

Jurrien Timmer, director at Fidelity Investments, predicted that Bitcoin could reach the equivalent $140686 AUD by 2023, according to NextAdvisor’s survey.

Bitcoin Price Prediction 2025

A panel of experts put together by Finder drew an average 2025 Bitcoin price prediction of $351,157 AUD for the year 2025.

Bitcoin Price Prediction 2031

Robert Breedlove, Founder of Parallax Digital, made a bold prediction of $17.6 million AUD per Bitcoin by 2031.

RISK STATEMENT

This article is of a general nature only, and is intended for solely informational purposes. This is not financial advice. No-one can guarantee the price of Bitcoin will keep going up. Never invest more money than you can afford to lose into any crypto.

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As men get more playful with fashion, the humble suit is often on the receiving end of more unusual colour options. From the office to the summer wedding, green is a colour featuring prominently in tailoring; together as a matching jacket and trousers, or split – teamed with neutral trousers or jeans.

As unconventional as green suits are, the colour of the earth is a great alternative to blue, grey and brown, especially for the gent who wants to wear something a little different.

So, how do you wear a green suit? To get your sartorial juices flowing, we’ve found 50 ways to wear a green suit. Taking visual notes from real suited men in green, you’ll be looking dapper – and different, in no time. Even Kermit the Frog, the Green Lantern and Gumby have something to learn from this lot.

Simple Rules To Follow When Wearing A Green Suit:

• As a general rule, darker shades of green can be worn where neutrals (navy, charcoal, brown) are worn, while brighter, bolder shades work best as statement pieces, against natural and neutral shades.
• Look to light greens (mint) for summer and leafy, dark shades for winter. And apply the rule for day (light) and night time (dark) dressing.
• For work, look to military greens (olive and khaki), keeping the rest of the office outfit classic. Add a camel topcoat in winter to make the green pop.
• Green is ripe for summer weddings. Go bold: a two-piece pastel suit with chunky-soled brogues. Or interchange the green trouser for a cropped, neutral chino and green suede loafers for a play on textural and tonal colour.
• Biscal bay (a mild oceanic green) is the green suit colour this season. Paired with navy trousers, dark blue woven tie and crisp white shirt, you’ve got a contemporary office look. Or don a chambray denim shirt, daffodil pocket square and mid-wash jeans slim-cut jeans – with sock-less tassel loafers – for a smart casual affair.
• An emerald green velvet dinner jacket – with contrast black grosgrain lapel – is the perfect party season jacket. Pair with inky-black trousers and matching velvet loafers. Keep the shirt black with a black silk tie, for a change up from the typical white shirt.
• Green fits well with the felt-y finish of cashmere-wool blend fabrics for winter or a textural olive Harris tweed. A green linen slub in jade or crisp mint green is beautifully fresh for spring. Mohair suits in dark green are very work-ready, while nylon-y unstructured suits – designed to be paired with a t-shirt and sneakers.
• Finally, patterns play well with green, especially plaids. A blackwatch check is a stylish heritage option for the outlandish man. For a touch of green, pair a blackwatch waistcoat with a navy suit. The adage “blue and green should not be seen…” proving old-hat in modern menswear.

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The post 50 Ways To Wear A Green Suit | Outfit Inspiration For Men appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Watches – No matter how far we come with regards to technology, the mechanical movements of a timeless wristwatch will always be a fascinating work of art. An art that has been fine-tuned and perfected over centuries of passionate innovation, refined craftsmanship and relentless dedication.

Not only is a watch an incredibly useful accessory, a nice watch also signifies a gentleman’s appreciation for style, class, but most importantly, for tradition.

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Love it or loathe it, there’s no denying Apple is a company that knows how to make money. But for all its innovation, it could be argued the company is a bit of a bully. But do consumers care?

Apple has long held a spot at the top of the list of world’s most valuable companies. Although it was recently dethroned by Saudi Aramco, Apple still occupies position number 2 with a market cap of $2.27 trillion. That’s some serious money and it should come as no surprise that the iPhone is the highest-earner for the Californian company, which regularly sees huge spikes in revenue in Q1 of their fiscal year (which starts in October), following the now cyclical launch of the new iPhone in the September prior.

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Since the iPhone’s inception in 2007, Apple has been on a warpath of developing new products and in some instances inventing or reinventing product categories. The iPad, for example, is a digital tablet the likes of which never existed until Apple created it.

It’s now become a product that can, in some cases, replace a traditional laptop and one that many consumers will claim they never knew they needed until they had it.

The Apple Watch, as another example, wasn’t the first smartwatch or fitness wearable device, but is now the biggest-selling wearable device by some margin. It could be argued that Apple only produces one effective wearable device, and so sales figures will naturally be high. Other manufacturers will produce a number of wearable devices, so individual sales will be fewer.

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Much of Apple’s appeal is in the design of its products and the ecosystem through which they all communicate with each other. Being able to copy some text written in a document on a Mac, and then paste it into a document on your iPhone thanks to cloud-based clipboard associated with your specific Apple ID, really is rather genius.

Lately, however, it appears that Apple has taken a more forceful approach to products and services that it offers.

Apple Pay Later

With the new iOS 16 mobile operating system due for release in September alongside the iPhone 14, Apple will introduce an Apple Pay Later service. This service is essentially the same as any other buy now pay later service currently in circulation, such as Afterpay or Klarna. It lets you purchase products (using built-in Apple Pay functionality) and pay for them in four equal instalments, with 0% interest.

It’s nothing new, then, but the likelihood of it receiving widespread adoption will be high. Why? Because it will be baked into the Apple Pay payment service virtually all iPhone users will currently use. So, if it saves having a separate account with a service such as Afterpay, then it’s going to have great appeal. As for how companies like Afterpay and Klarna will fare once Apple Pay Later is released of course remains to be seen, but it could certainly be argued that Apple is forcing out the competition.

Apple AirTag

Another product category that Apple didn’t invent but has already made its mark in, Is location tracking devices. Specifically, the AirTag. The AirTag is a Bluetooth tracker that you can attach to, or place in, pretty much anything you don’t want to lose.

The AirTag has recently found favour with international travellers who, amidst the current chaos being experienced by airports and suitcases and bags going missing on a more regular basis, have used an AirTag to find out where their bag is.

Bluetooth trackers already exist in the form of other products such as Tile. Tile can be attached to keys thanks to an integrated cut out hole, or you can get a credit card sized Tile to slip into your wallet. It’s incredibly versatile and I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of them, having misplaced my keys and wallet on numerous occasions, but being able to find them easily thanks to my connected Tiles.

The AirTag by contrast is just a small disc. If you want to attach it to your keys, you need spend extra money on a dedicated case. This tactic of Apple only offering the basics harps back to the old MacBook Pro that needed a ton of additional dongles and adapters to unleash its full potential.

But once again, despite Apple not inventing anything new, the AirTag will appeal because it has the Apple logo on it, and its simple and easy integration with your iPhone. I can admit that Apple has taken a product already proving to be popular, and just made it that little bit better.

What do the experts say?

DMARGE spoke to Geoff Quattromani from the Technology Uncorked podcast, to find out his thoughts on Apple’s tactics and how they’ve worked in the company’s favour.

“It could be argued that Apple looks at the top applications in their store, looks at the best selling accessories they don’t make and works out methods to do it themselves,” he begins.

“They’re also very tuned into which apps and services are trending and in growth. This behind the scenes view of all activity and data allows them to make decisions into whether they start their own eBooks store (when Kindle was becoming a thing), a music streaming service (when Spotify was flying), start a TV/Movie streaming service (Netflix) and even cloud storage.”

“All of this helps Apple drive revenue in their direction but also provides that clean and simplistic Apple experience that they’d prefer you see. These are larger initiatives but we’ve seen it from smaller levels too, the iPhone didn’t have the ability to use the flash as the torch until the app store was full of apps to do so. AirDrop wasn’t created until apps like Bump existed.”

“From a hardware perspective, Apple internal components are continuing to be created inhouse.”

“The latest Mac range with the M1 or M2 chips are a huge hit against Intel, who they worked with for years. Phone case manufacturers, Apple Watch bands, iPad stands etc are all items which Apple didn’t create when their products were initially released, they did them AFTER organisations started selling them.”

“The AirPods, which now drives a significant amount of revenue for Apple, was an entirely new product in their arsenal after other brands were making bluetooth headphones.”

“Apple is a data company. When all transactions for apps, services and hardware goes through you, you can analyse it and make decisions that kill startups or even giant organisations. What’s even better, they’ll take 30% of their revenue through the store until they can completely replace you. It’s like funding your own demise.”

Perhaps, then, Apple deliberately lets other companies and manufacturers take the lead when it comes to technological innovations, to gauge how they’re received by the public. Why spend money on research and development only for the final product to flop?

Instead, let others do the dirty work and then come up with a version of your own.

Make no mistake, I am a fan of Apple. I own a number of the company’s products (and I am thinking about getting an AirTag before I make a trip to the UK…just in case). So, I can’t really complain when Apple releases something new, because I can appreciate that it does work and it does what I’d want it to do.

Unfortunately, you do have to pay a premium for Apple’s products. And you’re not just paying for the technical aspect, but for the fashion and image aspect too. Remember when people would wear Apple’s iconic white wired earphones, just so they could show off to others they owned an iPod?

The same thing happened with the AirPods. Apple’s minimalist all-white design had become so iconic by then, that you could spot them a mile away, and people didn’t care that the headphones they were wearing looked like toothbrush heads. Fortunately, Apple has since updated the design to be more streamlined, in the form of the AirPods Pro.

The other thing that pains me when Apple releases something ‘borrowed’ from someone else is the heads of Apple Fanbois exploding around the world. Apple is a good company, yes. But not quite a God.

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