Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by gruseom on Friday July 24, 2009 @05:33PM
(#722471)
This reminds me of a joke I heard a (scarily) long time ago: "You bring De Beers, let's have apartheid."
Apart from their unparalleled success in protecting an artificially scarce market for so many years, did you know that De Beers were the early geniuses in product placement? Diamonds didn't use to be such a big deal. The romantic association of diamonds with love and commitment (primarily for women) was a marketing invention of De Beers. One way they did it was by paying to insert scenes involving diamonds into Hollywood movies (in the 1940s, IIRC), such as the heroine's friends telling her: "He gave you a ring without a diamond? The cad!" Diamonds started popping up in climactic scenes of reconciliation and inevitable marriage proposals.
I can't remember how I know this... it might have been in an old episode of This American Life. The other thing that surprised me was that they were a British company, not a South African one.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by yalurker on Friday July 24, 2009 @05:59PM
(#722532)
I have to say, anything bad happening to De Beers is music to my ears. As you've mentioned they run a cartel to sell worthless rocks at huge markups to irrational consumers, but my real problem comes from the toll their actions take on human lives in third world countries. The human rights violations of the diamond industry are unparalleled.
I'd recommend everyone read up on "blood diamonds" or "conflict diamonds" as well as the diamond market in general before ever purchasing a diamond for jewelry.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by gchpaco on Saturday July 25, 2009 @12:54AM
(#722996)
Diamonds are superb materials and are used every day in industrial processes all over the world. None of these are gem quality nor does anybody give a rat's arse about their diamond paste or diamond cutting wheel being pretty.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by davidmathers on Saturday July 25, 2009 @03:03AM
(#723071)
I'd recommend everyone read up on "blood diamonds" or "conflict diamonds" as well as the diamond market in general before ever purchasing a diamond for jewelry.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by zby on Saturday July 25, 2009 @04:26AM
(#723106)
Why is it so inaccurate? "Coltan is a metal that conducts heat unusually brilliantly." compare to wikipedia: "Coltan is the colloquial African name for columbite - tantalite, a metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted." Also in wikipedia: "The United States Geological Survey reports in its 2006 yearbook that the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces a little less than 1% of the world's tantalum." - so this implying of guilt for everyone buying electronics is rather silly.
He trades truth for rhetorics undermining all the sympathy I might have.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by theblackbox on Saturday July 25, 2009 @09:41AM
(#723251)
Another simply awful British company on the back foot at the moment over human rights violations due to the mining of a precious mineral is Vedanta. They bought a mountain and planned to demolish it in the search for Bauxite, despite the fact it is the ancestral home and most sacred place for the Dongria Kondh tribe. Luckily Survival International have been on the case from the start and this Monday a rep from the DK will be arriving in London to protest at Vedanta's AGM.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by jbarciauskas on Friday July 24, 2009 @05:00PM
(#722407)
Can't feel too badly for these guys, they've been capitalizing on market inefficiency (the bad kind, anti-competitive actions) for decades. For anyone interested in the diamond industry, this Wired story from 2003 provides some great insight into the cartel: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by jrockway on Friday July 24, 2009 @07:22PM
(#722673)
Wow, selling rocks with no actual value is no longer profitable? Who would have thunk it! (This is like the Web 1.0 version of those "things" you can buy your friends on Facebook. No actual value, they're just a row in the database, but marketing and artificial scarcity makes people want to buy them. It doesn't last, though, once people realize that your worthless shit is worthless.)
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by rewind on Friday July 24, 2009 @08:50PM
(#722774)
I wouldn't be surprised if beer sales increase in a recession as people stay home and drink more beer yet at a lesser overall cost than if they went out and drank half as much in a restaurant or bar.
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by mahmud on Saturday July 25, 2009 @01:08AM
(#723007)
Not just buying them. I know of two different IT people (in two continents no less) who finally have the time to build their own little basement brewery :-)
There is something about programmers and DIY foods and beverages. A good friend of mine also became an "urban farmer".
Re:De Beers profits fall 92%
by skorgu on Friday July 24, 2009 @06:18PM
(#722566)
I paid for a year's subscription to the FT back when I had time in the mornings to sit and read it. Nice and relaxing but I realized I got most of my news via google reader anyway so knew most of the headlines before I opened it.
Anyway I canceled my subscription. That was about a year and a half ago. I still get a copy, every morning, without fail on my doorstep.
Apart from their unparalleled success in protecting an artificially scarce market for so many years, did you know that De Beers were the early geniuses in product placement? Diamonds didn't use to be such a big deal. The romantic association of diamonds with love and commitment (primarily for women) was a marketing invention of De Beers. One way they did it was by paying to insert scenes involving diamonds into Hollywood movies (in the 1940s, IIRC), such as the heroine's friends telling her: "He gave you a ring without a diamond? The cad!" Diamonds started popping up in climactic scenes of reconciliation and inevitable marriage proposals.
I can't remember how I know this... it might have been in an old episode of This American Life. The other thing that surprised me was that they were a British company, not a South African one.
I'd recommend everyone read up on "blood diamonds" or "conflict diamonds" as well as the diamond market in general before ever purchasing a diamond for jewelry.
I'm guessing most hackers aren't diamond buyers. I recommend everyone read this before buying any computers or electronic gadgets: http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=863
He trades truth for rhetorics undermining all the sympathy I might have.
http://www.survival-international.org/news/4783
check them out - probably my favourite charity of all time
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198202/diamond
(I know you're picky about houmorous comments here, but please don't vote me down to -8)
There is something about programmers and DIY foods and beverages. A good friend of mine also became an "urban farmer".
A nag-free copy of the same information: http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/24122026/De-Beers-H1-net-pro...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89c46692-782e-11de-bb06-00144feabd...
Clever little hack to get by the registration!
Anyway I canceled my subscription. That was about a year and a half ago. I still get a copy, every morning, without fail on my doorstep.