Yolf,
Thanks for this thread!!! You forgot Be-Del-Aware...
Just started investigating cryonics for me & wifey.
Some questions:
a. why are some willing to pay Alcor $220K rather than CI $28K + $1200+ memb. fee??!!
(am guessing, from your Alcor video link, its because Alcor spends $$ to make facility look
very polished & that impresses $$millionaires $$billionaires?)
(the Alcor guy in video is so well groomed, I imagine him driving an Alcorized Bentley)
(FYI, Alcor email follow-up is horrible = one person telling me another person will get back,
going on three days now, as a result I went on to learn of CI)
(is there a CI video? I hope they look & dress more like Einsteins)
b. what, if anything, do I get with Alcor, that I don't get with CI -- besides lower humidity?
c. is there any organization that is clear leader in updating asap to the very latest "best" techniques?
IMO, affording cryonics is of the highest priority; higher that current unneccesary comforts;
use public transportation if one has to, get a second job if one has to, rent cheaper flat if
one has to, forego ALL luxuries, cancel subscriptions, etc. etc. etc. No Freeze-R-Us for me!!!
Personally, I want the best scheme available on day of my legal death at lowest price, not
what was the best scheme available a year before my legal death!!!
With Alcor, the procedure is performed by a cardiothoracic surgeon and they are able to give your brain a better preservation with their technology and possibly a better whole body cryopreservation. As another user mentions, the patient care trust also makes it more expensive. Alcor also includes a $10k relocation stipend?(forget what they call it).
With CI, there is no patient care trust, they just agree to freeze you indefinitely. The procedure is performed by a mortician/funeral director, and the technology is good, but perhaps not as good as Alcor's. $28k is the minimum funding. If you'd like additional funding for reanimation, that's on you. Otherwise you're relying for other cryonicists to help you out someday. The American Cryonics Society can help you here or you can make sure to leave extra money to CI IIRC.
There is also the newcomer, Oregon Cryonics. They only have some pets at present, but that's how CI got started IIRC and it seems they are adequately funded for now.
Also on the horizon is a mega facility that aims to reduce the total cost to the provider, including storage, to less than $5k for whole body or head only. There is resistance to this however as individual units as are used now mean each person or group of people has a chance of their own in the event of a catastrophic failure. So people like paying more for this. I just thought of a compromise solution to that though as I'm writing though... so I'll have to write about it... maybe it'll work after all.