Saturday, March 7, 2020

Computer R Us Company

Computer R Us Company Introduction The Computer R Us Company received numerous complaints about the services offered in their CompleteCare division. After thorough investigations into the complaints, the management established that the division was experiencing problems as a result of inadequacy of trained operators and problems with distribution and availability of parts. In response to these problems, the management came up with four initiatives that aimed at improving customer satisfaction. In this paper, analysis will be carried using various tools to establish the effectiveness of the initiatives that were put in place.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Computer R Us Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research design Sampling technique This research was conducted using research survey study approach. Data was collected using a questionnaire that had three sections. The first part required personal information, that is, age a nd gender. In the second section a Likert scale of ten points was used to collect some data. The final section focused on determinants of customer satisfaction. Four questions were asked in this section and each had a Likert scale of ten points. The random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 500 customers (Kothari, 2004). The questionnaires were sent to the 500 customers and only 420 responded. In order to collect the data necessary for this study, several steps will be taken to ensure that appropriate care is taken to protect the participants. There are no universally accepted determinants of customer satisfaction ((Verbeek, 2008). Besides, the results of previous studies do not give conclusive result on the most effective determinant. Therefore, the attributes used by the management of Computer R Us to improve the level of customer satisfaction are a sample of what other companies use (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, Griffin, 2012). Analysis The first test show that the overal l satisfaction is statistically different from 6 out of 10. The calculated mean is 4.4881 and it is less than the goal. The result of the second question shows that the overall satisfaction of female customers is higher than that of male customers. Therefore, there is a need to improve the level of satisfaction of the male customers. The results of the third question indicate that there is no difference in the level of satisfaction across the different age groups. Further, tests on question five shows that there is no difference in gender composition across the five age groups.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The fifth test reveals that customers tend to be more satisfied with the loyalty rewards program than response times in the CompleteCare division. Therefore, the management needs to improve the response time in the division. The final test shows that all the four initiatives have a potential of improving customer satisfaction. Further, response time of the CompleteCare division and level of advice CompleteCare staff provides on Computers R Us products have more impact than the other two initiatives (Baltagi, 2011). Recommendations The results of hypothesis testing show that the management did not achieve their goal. For the company to achieve the target of 6 out of 10, the management needs to consider the recommendations listed below. Decrease the response time of the CompleteCare division. This can be achieved by increasing the number of well trained personnel and equipment that can facilitate service delivery at the division. The company should introduce a rating system that can be used by customers continuously. The management should also focus on improving the level of satisfaction of the male customers. The management should train the CompleteCare staff on a continuous basis. This will improve the quality of advice they give c lients. References Baltagi, G. (2011). Econometrics. New York: Springer Publisher Kothari, J. (2004). Research methodology: methods and techniques. New Delhi: New Age International (P) Limited Publishers. Verbeek, M. (2008). A guide to modern econometrics. England: John Wiley Sons. Zikmund, W., Babin, B., Carr, J., Griffin, M. (2012). Business research methods. USA: Cengage Learning.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Computer R Us Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Appendix: Hypothesis testing Does the current level of customer satisfaction differ from management’s goal of 6 out of 10? Hypothesis H0: The current level of customer satisfaction = 6. H1: The current level of customer satisfaction ≠  6. Statistical technique In this case a one sample t-test will be used to test the hypothesis. Justification One sample t-test is most suitable for evaluating a hypothesis that compares the actual mea n and hypothesized mean. Results of the test Variable 1 Variable 2 Mean 4.488095238 6 Variance 5.505824526 0 Observations 420 420 Pearson Correlation Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 df 419 t Stat -13.20498454 P(T=t) one-tail 7.85063E-34 t Critical one-tail 1.64849841 P(T=t) two-tail 1.57013E-33 t Critical two-tail 1.965641842 t Stat -13.20498454 t Critical two-tail 1.965641842 P(T=t) two-tail 1.57013E-33 Interpretation The results show that t-calculated is greater than t-critical. Also, the p-value (1.57013E-33) is less than alpha (5%). Therefore, the null hypothesis will be rejected at the 95% confidence level. This implies that the current level of customer satisfaction differ from management’s goal of 6 out of 10. Is there any difference between the overall satisfaction of male and female customers at Computers R Us? Hypothesis H0: Overall satisfaction of male customers = overall satisfaction of female customers at compute r R Us. H1: Overall satisfaction of male customers ≠  overall satisfaction of female customers at computer R Us.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Statistical technique In this case, a paired sample t-test will be used to test the hypothesis. Justification A paired sample t-test is the most suitable for testing hypothesis that compared the mean of two related variables. Results of the test t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances Female Male Mean 3.589430894 5.75862069 Variance 4.27564294 4.507873231 Observations 246 174 Pooled Variance 4.371757391 Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 Df 418 t Stat -10.47338477 P(T=t) one-tail 2.98994E-23 t Critical one-tail 1.648507149 P(T=t) two-tail 5.97988E-23 t Critical two-tail 1.965655464 Interpretation In the results, the mean and variance of overall satisfaction for the male is greater than that of the female group. Further, t-calculated is greater than t-critical. Also, the p-value is less than alpha (5%). Therefore, the null hypothesis will be rejected at the 95% confidence level. This implies that there is a difference between the overall satisfact ion of male and female customers of the company. Are there any differences in the overall customer satisfaction across the following age groups: under 20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51 and over? Hypothesis H0: There is no difference in the overall satisfaction across the various age groups. H1: The overall satisfaction of at least one age group is different from the others. Statistical technique In this case, analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used to test the hypothesis. Justification ANOVA is the most suitable technique for testing hypothesis that entails comparing mean for more than one group. One way ANOVA will be used because there is only one independent variable. Results of the test Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Count Sum Average Variance Under 20 47 180 3.829787 6.579093432 21-30 109 501 4.59633 6.150356779 31-40 105 466 4.438095 5.786996337 41-50 107 485 4.53271 4.647504849 over 50 52 253 4.865385 4.236425339 ANOVA Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit Between Groups 29.52282 4 7.380705 1.344941124 0.252492 2.393438 Within Groups 2277.418 415 5.487753 Total 2306.94 419 Interpretation In the results above, the value of F-calculated is less than the F-critical. Besides, the p-value is greater than alpha (5%). Therefore, the null hypothesis will not be rejected at the 95% confidence level. This implies that there is no difference in the overall satisfaction across the various age groups. Are there any differences in the gender compositions across the five age groups? Hypothesis H0: There are no differences in gender composition across the five age groups. H1: Gender composition is different in at least one of the age groups. Statistical technique Analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used to test the hypothesis. Justification ANOVA is the most suitable technique for testing hypothesis that entail comparing mean for more than one group. One way ANOVA will be used because there is only one independent variable (Verbeek, 2008). Results of the test Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Count Sum Average Variance Under 20 47 20 0.425532 0.249769 21-30 109 47 0.431193 0.247537 31-40 105 43 0.409524 0.244139 41-50 107 41 0.383178 0.238582 over 50 52 23 0.442308 0.251508 ANOVA Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit Between Groups 0.18386 4 0.045965 0.18751 0.944872 2.393438 Within Groups 101.7304 415 0.245134 Total 101.9143 419 Interpretation In the results above, the value of F-calculated is less than the F-critical. Besides, the p-value is greater than alpha (5%). Therefore, the null hypothesis will not be rejected at the 95% confidence level. This implies that there are no differences in gender composition across the five age groups. Is there any difference in customer satisfaction based upon ‘response times in the CompleteCare division’ and the ‘loyalty rewards p rogram’? Hypothesis H0: Customer satisfaction based upon response times in the CompleteCare division = the customer satisfaction based upon loyalty reward program. H1: Customer satisfaction based upon response times in the CompleteCare division ≠  the customer satisfaction based upon loyalty reward program. Statistical technique In this case, a paired sample t-test will be used to test the hypothesis. Justification A paired sample t-test is the most suitable for testing hypothesis that compared the mean of two related variables (Verbeek, 2008). Results of the test t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means Response time Loyalty reward program Mean 3.242857143 5.645238095 Variance 4.222502557 7.842817366 Observations 420 420 Pearson Correlation -0.011950135 Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 Df 419 t Stat -14.09404771 P(T=t) one-tail 1.69112E-37 t Critical one-tail 1.64849841 P(T=t) two-tail 3.38224E-37 t Critical two-tail 1.965641842 Interpr etation The results show that t-calculated is greater than t-critical. Also, the p-value is less than alpha (5%). Therefore, the null hypothesis will be rejected at the 95% confidence level. This implies that there are differences in customer satisfaction based upon response times in the CompleteCare division and the loyalty rewards program. Are any of the initiatives proposed by management related to the overall satisfaction of Computers R Us customers? Hypothesis H0: The initiatives proposed by the management are determinants of the overall satisfaction of Computer R Us customers. H1: The initiatives proposed by the management are not determinants of the overall satisfaction of Computer R Us customers Statistical technique In this case, a multiple regression analysis will be used. Justification Multiple regression analysis is used to model the relationship between one dependent variable and other explanatory variables. Results of the test SUMMARY OUTPUT Regression Sta tistics Multiple R 0.965602191 R Square 0.932387592 Adjusted R Square 0.931735906 Standard Error 0.613066164 Observations 420 ANOVA Df SS MS F Significance F Regression 4 2150.962676 537.7407 1430.732 3.3062E-241 Residual 415 155.9778006 0.37585 Total 419 2306.940476 Coefficients Standard Error t-Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0% Intercept 0.896561298 0.103883791 8.630425 1.32E-16 0.69235727 1.10076533 0.69235727 1.100765326 Response time 0.86471784 0.03836737 22.53785 4.92E-74 0.789299227 0.94013645 0.789299227 0.940136454 Level of advice 0.271037316 0.041145932 6.58722 1.36E-10 0.190156892 0.35191774 0.190156892 0.351917739 Level of communication -0.01775345 0.021480889 -0.82648 0.409009 -0.05997837 0.02447146 -0.05997836 0.024471457 Loyalty reward program 0.007973903 0.010696359 0.745478 0.456405 -0.01305189 0.0289997 -0.01305189 0.0289997 Interpretation The F-test will be used to test the overall significance of the regression model. The p-value for the F test is less than alpha (0.05). Therefore, reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the four determinants are significant determinants of the overall customer satisfaction. Further, the p-value for response time and level of advice are greater than alpha (0.05). This implies that they are significant determinants of overall customer satisfaction of the company.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

New Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New Below - Essay Example uage was seen as a matter of knowing grammatical rules and vocabulary and could be measured by measuring the learner’s grammatical and lexical knowledge.’ (Manfred 219). Philosophers and Psychologists have often debated appropriate ways of conceptualizing the nature of language proficiency and its relationship to other constructs like intelligence. ‘Proficiency is a definite, if intuitively held, concept and not just a formal construct.’ (Manfred 219). The question of proficiency in language is central to the resolution of a variety of applied educational issues. Expertise in a language develops as a function of ‘different class rooms treatments different experiences in the environments and different social contexts.’ (Harley 7). To assess proficiency, tests have been designed that have descriptors for various levels of achievement and is usually expressed as a number on a scale. ‘The level of correlation between tests of formal knowledge and tests of practical proficiency seems to depend on the nature of the course or environment in which the language has been learned.’ (Manfred 219). According D E Ingram, Darwin Institute of Technology, Casuarina, Australia, ‘the term â€Å"test† – refers to any activity in evaluating or measuring some part or all of a learner’s language proficiency.’ (Manfred Introduction 215). A five point scale such as the International Second Language Proficiency Rating (ISLPR) formerly called Australian Second Language Proficiency Rating (ASLPR) used the + symbol to make distinctions between the fine points on the scale. There have been considerable developments in linguistic and second language teaching. The evaluation of the concept of proficiency changed the linguistic theory of Chomsky with competence in performance. Reactions against Psycholinguistic distinctions made by Chomsky made people think of competency as not only linguistic but also communicative i.e. use was considered as important as language usage.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Home work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Home work - Essay Example The basement has boards which show what to expect in the building, and shows where they can be found. The basement also has an indoor environmental quality, which gives information about the dangers of inhaling volatile organic compounds. The first floor shows the history and the mission of the building. It also shows its plan and layout, the surrounding neighborhood . The floor also shows the LEED performance, which is the criteria used to determine a green building. The second floor is concerned with the energy and atmosphere, such that, the windows had been covered by a bronze Mylar film, which reduces the full glare of light i.e. ultraviolet ray and, infrared rays. The walls have also been made from wheat board that uses a safer bonding agent, which is emission free. The third floor has a board showing the common cause of Colorado, the advantages of the use of fiber glass in the building and the benefits of using shared hands, which leads to saving money. The floor will use insulations of cellulose, natural cotton fiber and soy based foam. All these are natural and organic materials. The furnishings in the lobby, offices and meeting rooms are made from recyclable materials, the development of clean and renewable energy by buying a wind power and a composite door from minerals and fibrous

Monday, January 27, 2020

Romantic God Child

Romantic God Child The Romantic period began in the mid-eighteenth century and lasted till about the mid-nineteenth century. It is characterized by a reaction against the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism centuries. They preferred the country to city and the natural instead of the planned. They write in a more free lyric; therefore, stimulating the language of the common people. They would emphasize in the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the visionary, and the transcendental. An easy way to think about the Romantic writers is they are natural. They also had many literary forms of writing: Gothic tales, sentimental comedies, sentimental novels, historical novels, serialized fictions, metrical romances, ballads, and lyrics. When discussing the lyric form there is different ways to write a lyric. One is the sonnet which is idealized with love, nature lyric that celebrates the majesty of nature, dramatic monologue is a speech of an individual character, reflective lyric is used for public or priv ate dignity which personal emotion is involved, and lyric of morbid melancholy expresses the sorrow and pain of bereavement. In William Blakes â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper†, both innocence and experience is a life lesson of a little boy. Blake is known for his traditional ballad style of writing. In his stories â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† both innocence and experience, I find that they both have a turning in upon self and a heightened examination of human personality. Though it may not jump out at you, I found the children to be turning themselves to God. One turning towards God, and the other away. As a young child we are unsure about the truth about God and ourselves. We also will believe what we are told and anything we are told. In the innocence version of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† young Toms dream made him examine his life and turn himself to self, self being God. All Tom needed was a dream. In the occurrence of having this dream about his friends and seeing them in black coffins, and seeing an angel suddenly appear to free them. Tom knew then there is a God and he can and will see his friends again. As he wakes up the next morning he is a much happier boy, knowing that he will get the chance to have fun with Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack. Tom examined his life so he could go on living with a faith and knowing that he will be in heaven one day, by doing that he turned himself to self (God). As a young child all it took was a dream, but for an older adult it takes much more. As Tom grows-up I think his faith will grow much stronger. I would wonder why is that? We should h ave all have the faith like Tom did, in just a dream. It worked for Martin Luther King Jr. In the experience version of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† you will find a different story and a different type of faith. As you walk down the snowy street you will find and young boy doubting his faith in self and complaining about his life. He says that he may act happy to his parents but he is not. He does not like how his parents dress him or what they make him learn, but he acts happy to them. This little boy blames his unhappiness on God. The one that his parents go into the church to worship while he must sit outside and smile and act happy all dressed in clothes of death. This little boy is examining himself, but also others around him, comparing himself to the other children playing and having fun. This young boy is turning himself away from God. And as this young man grows his faith in God will only seize to become more hateful. Even though people may view and look upon the Romantic period as love stories and heroes, it is like anything else in life, it is not what it seems. The Romantic times also had their dark times and talked of unhappiness. Still they had their own taste in literature, they spoke more modern, more natural or you could say more down to earth. They relied more on themselves and what happens in the everyday life, not a crazy imagination. Their thought began with their feelings and test for truth was an inner test. I think that Blake shows us all how the true test is within. That we must examine our lives and faith in God before anything else. That without God we will be like the little boy in the experience version of â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† and we will blame God for everything, even the things that we should not.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Involvement Of K+ In Leaf Movements During Suntracking :: essays research papers

Involvement of K+ in Leaf Movements During Suntracking Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many plants orient their leaves in response to directional light signals. Heliotropic movements, or movements that are affected by the sun, are common among plants belonging to the families Malvaceae, Fabaceae, Nyctaginaceae, and Oxalidaceae. The leaves of many plants, including Crotalaria pallida, exhibit diaheliotropic movement. C. pallida is a woody shrub native to South Africa. Its trifoliate leaves are connected to the petiole by 3-4 mm long pulvinules (Schmalstig). In diaheliotropic movement, the plant’s leaves are oriented perpendicular to the sun’s rays, thereby maximizing the interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). In some plants, but not all, his response occurs particularly during the morning and late afternoon, when the light is coming at more of an angle and the water stress is not as severe (Donahue and Vogelmann). Under these conditions the lamina of the leaf is within less than 15 ° from the normal to the sun. Many plants that exhibit diaheliotropic movements also show paraheliotropic response as well. Paraheliotropism minimizes water loss by reducing the amount of light absorbed by the leaves; the leaves orient themselves parallel to the sun’s rays. Plants that exhibit paraheliotropic behavior usually do so at midday, when the sun’s rays are perpendicular to the ground. This reorientation takes place only in leaves of plants that are capable of nastic light-driven movements, such as the trifoliate leaf of Erythrina spp. (Herbert 1984). However, this phenomenon has been observed in other legume species that exhibit diaheliotropic leaf movement as well. Their movement is temporarily transformed from diaheliotropic to paraheliotropic. In doing so, the interception of solar radiation is maximized during the morning and late afternoon, and minimized during midday. The leaves of Crotalaria pallida also exhibit nyctinastic, or sleep, movements, in which the leaves fold down at night. The solar tracking may also provide a competitive advantage during early growth, since there is little shading, and also by intercepting more radiant heat in the early morning, thus raising leaf temperature nearer the optimum for photosynthesis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Integral to understanding the heliotropic movements of a plant is determining how the leaf detects the angle at which the light is incident upon it, how this perception is transduced to the pulvinus, and finally, how this signal can effect a physiological response (Donahue and Vogelmann).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the species Crotalaria pallida, blue light seems to be the wavelength that stimulates these leaf movements (Scmalstig). It has been implicated in the photonastic unfolding of leaves and in the diaheliotropic response in Mactroptilium atropurpureum and Lupinus succulentus (Schwartz, Gilboa, and Koller 1987). However, the light receptor involved can not be determined from Involvement Of K+ In Leaf Movements During Suntracking :: essays research papers Involvement of K+ in Leaf Movements During Suntracking Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many plants orient their leaves in response to directional light signals. Heliotropic movements, or movements that are affected by the sun, are common among plants belonging to the families Malvaceae, Fabaceae, Nyctaginaceae, and Oxalidaceae. The leaves of many plants, including Crotalaria pallida, exhibit diaheliotropic movement. C. pallida is a woody shrub native to South Africa. Its trifoliate leaves are connected to the petiole by 3-4 mm long pulvinules (Schmalstig). In diaheliotropic movement, the plant’s leaves are oriented perpendicular to the sun’s rays, thereby maximizing the interception of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). In some plants, but not all, his response occurs particularly during the morning and late afternoon, when the light is coming at more of an angle and the water stress is not as severe (Donahue and Vogelmann). Under these conditions the lamina of the leaf is within less than 15 ° from the normal to the sun. Many plants that exhibit diaheliotropic movements also show paraheliotropic response as well. Paraheliotropism minimizes water loss by reducing the amount of light absorbed by the leaves; the leaves orient themselves parallel to the sun’s rays. Plants that exhibit paraheliotropic behavior usually do so at midday, when the sun’s rays are perpendicular to the ground. This reorientation takes place only in leaves of plants that are capable of nastic light-driven movements, such as the trifoliate leaf of Erythrina spp. (Herbert 1984). However, this phenomenon has been observed in other legume species that exhibit diaheliotropic leaf movement as well. Their movement is temporarily transformed from diaheliotropic to paraheliotropic. In doing so, the interception of solar radiation is maximized during the morning and late afternoon, and minimized during midday. The leaves of Crotalaria pallida also exhibit nyctinastic, or sleep, movements, in which the leaves fold down at night. The solar tracking may also provide a competitive advantage during early growth, since there is little shading, and also by intercepting more radiant heat in the early morning, thus raising leaf temperature nearer the optimum for photosynthesis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Integral to understanding the heliotropic movements of a plant is determining how the leaf detects the angle at which the light is incident upon it, how this perception is transduced to the pulvinus, and finally, how this signal can effect a physiological response (Donahue and Vogelmann).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the species Crotalaria pallida, blue light seems to be the wavelength that stimulates these leaf movements (Scmalstig). It has been implicated in the photonastic unfolding of leaves and in the diaheliotropic response in Mactroptilium atropurpureum and Lupinus succulentus (Schwartz, Gilboa, and Koller 1987). However, the light receptor involved can not be determined from

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Holographics and Virtual Reality

HOLOGRAPHICS AND VIRTUAL REALITY Major KVP Dhammika M. Phill(Electronic and Telecommunication)Engineering Mid Career Course -45 Military College of Signal Rawalpindi – Pakistan Nov 2011 CONTENT 1. Introduction 2. Aim 3. History and Background 4. Important Concepts 5. Type of Virtual Reality Systems 6. Few Virtual Reality Techniques that Actually Work at Present 7. The Extreme Future of Virtual Reality 8. Conclusion INTRODUCTION What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can hear, what you can smell, taste and feel, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Morpheus (The Matrix) 1. It was my own belief next coming decade word virtual will be a very common to everyone since we all living in margin of real world and virtual world (Kind of dream world). When I started my high school studies in mathematics concept of imaginary numbers make me so confused but thought of its real existence me more confused. When I looked through a m irror I always thought imaginary world which was explained to me in complex numbers are exist inside the world that I am observing through a mirror. 2.When I was a kid TV show â€Å"Star Trek† and â€Å"Blake’s 7† induced my desire to study about Teleportation  (term that refers to a number of theories and notions concerning the transfer of  matter  from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them, similar to the concept  Ã¢â‚¬Å"apport†, an earlier word used in the context of spiritualism). Figure 1 Star Trek Teleportation Further my desire to learn concepts of Holography and Virtual Reality (VR) was stimulated due to two popular movies â€Å"Total Recall† and â€Å"Matrix†. . To day scientist had found that everything we experience in life can be reduced to electrical activity stimulating our brains as our sensory organs deliver information about the external world. This interpretation is what we consider to be â€Å"reality. † In this sense, the brain is reality. Everything you see, hear, feel, taste and smell is an interpretation of what's outside, and created entirely inside your head. We tend to believe that this interpretation matches very closely to the external world.Nothing could be further from the truth. 4. It is the brain that â€Å"sees†, and in some important ways what it sees does not reflect the information it derives from sensory input. For this reason, we are all living in our own reality simulations – abstractions – that we construct as a result of both what we perceive with our senses and how our brains modify this perception. Such things as color, smell and taste, for example are not properties of the outside world itself, but rather a category created by the process of perception.In order to experience the world in a meaningful way, the brain must act as a filter/interference between us and the â€Å"real† world. 5. Words have a lways been a crude method of relaying intent. VR holds out the promise of allowing us to literally show one another what we mean rather than merely describing it with crude verbal approximations. The limitation of words is that the meaning they convey is only as detailed as the definitions the reader or listener attaches to them.For this reason VR offers the possibility of evolving our communication into a kind of telepathy, ultimately bridging the gap between our discrete imaginations. â€Å"This is what virtual reality holds out to us – the possibility of walking into the constructs of the imagination. † – Terence McKenna 6. VR is the ultimate medium of syntactical intent; the only way to figuratively â€Å"show† someone exactly what you mean is to literally show them. Words are exceptionally ineffective at conveying meaning, as they are a low-bandwidth, lossy medium of knowledge transference.VR will let us remove the ambiguity that is the discrepancy b etween our internal dictionaries and bypass communication through symbolism altogether. The result will be perfect understanding, as all parties behold the same information. 7. Holography  is a technique that allows the  light  scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system (a camera or an eye) is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present.The image changes as the position and orientation of the viewing system changes in exactly the same way as if the object were still present, thus making the image appear  three-dimensional. 8. Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. On a computer, virtual reality is primarily experienced through two of the five senses: sight and sound. Today its go beyond and planning to experience in all five senses. 9.The simplest form of virtual reality is a  3-D  image that can be explored interactively at a personal computer, usually by manipulating keys or the mouse so that the content of the image moves in some direction or zooms in or out. More sophisticated efforts involve such approaches as wrap-around display screens, actual rooms augmented with wearable computers, and  haptics (  tactile feedback  technology that takes advantage of a user's sense of touch by applying forces,  vibrations, or motions to the user)  devices that let you feel the display images. 0. Today we are in a world where human being reached their new electronic telecommunication advancement to practically feasible of projecting holographic images, virtual reality games and Telepresence (refers to a set of  technologies  which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via  tele-robotics, at a place other than th eir true location). 11. These two field application can be expected in almost all the fields. Specially military, education, business and entertainment. AIM 12.Aim of this research work is to acquaint student officers immerging new two technologies, holography and virtual reality. HISTORY AND BACKGROUND 13. In mid 1950s visionary cinematographer Morton H Eilig built a single user console called â€Å"Sensorama† that included a stereoscopic display, fans, or emitters, stereo speakers and a moving chair. This enabled the user watch television in three dimensional ways. 14. In 1961, Philco Corporation engineers developed the first HMD known as the â€Å"Headsight†. The helmet consisted of a video screen along with a tracking system. Then they linked to a closed circuit camera system.Then somewhat similar HMD was used for helicopter pilots. While flying in the dark these were of great help. 15. In 1965, a computer scientist named Ivan Sutherland envisioned what he called t he â€Å"Ultimate Display. † After using this display a person imagines the virtual world very similar to the real world. During 1966, an HMD was built by Sutherland, which was tethered to a computer system. The thought of virtual reality has been around since 1965, when Ivan Sutherland expressed his ideas of creating virtual or imaginary worlds. At MIT, he conducted experiments with three dimensional displays.In 1969, he developed the first system to surround people in three dimensional displays of information. Between the '70's and late '80's, the concept of virtual reality was mainly used by the United States. The military used it as flight simulators to train pilots. The other countries in the world did not show any interest in this technology until the late 1980's. Since then, virtual reality has developed in many ways to become an emerging technology of our time. 16. To my own thought we experiencing some kind of virtual reality in our own dreams. When you are in deep s leep you see dreams that you may feel it real.Day dreams also plays very vital role, all form of these dreams help to create great sciences, fictions and all form of arts. In virtual reality technology we are trying to create dream world in real life where we won’t be able to identify margin between real world and virtual world. In other way round optical illusions we experiencing like mirage and rainbows also like holographic projection humans are about to experience. 17. Holography was discovered by the British-Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor in 1947, though its full potential waited it seems, on the birth of the laser, 1963.Holography is defined as  the process of wavefront reconstruction. In considering one of the several methods of constructing a hologram, the principles we require for understanding the process are simple. IMPORTANT CONCEPTS 18. The concepts behind virtual reality are based upon theories about a long held human desire to escape the boundaries of the à ¢â‚¬Ëœreal world’ by embracing cyberspace. Once there we can interact with this virtual environment in a more naturalistic manner which will generate new forms of human-machine interaction (HMI).The aim is to move beyond standard forms of interaction such as the keyboard and mouse which most people work with on a daily basis. This is seen as an unnatural way of working which forces people to adapt to the demands of the technology rather than the other way around. But a virtual environment does the opposite. It allows someone to fully immerse themselves in a highly visual world which they explore by means of their senses. This natural form of interaction within this world often results in new forms of communication and understanding. 19.The experience of a virtual world mimics that of a real world scenario but often without many of its constraints. Virtual reality enables allows someone to do the following: a. Walk around a three-dimensional building b. Perform a virtual opera tion. c. Play a multi-user game. d. Take part in a theatre of war. e. Interact with an artwork. Plus the fact that they can do this in a 3D environment means that they replicate an experience similar to that in the real world but without many of the dangers. This is preferable to trying to simulate these experiences in a two-dimensional setting, e. g. a computer desktop. 0. Virtual reality also acts as a problem solving device in that it enables us to explore various options as a means of finding an answer to a problem. For example, an engineering company will use virtual reality to produce a prototype which is then tested and the results fed back to the design team. The advantage of this is that it enables the designers to make alterations to their design but at far less time and cost. This is a preferred option to building a physical prototype which is expensive to build and make changes to: especially if it undergoes several alterations as part of the design process.Holography Co ncept. 21. Holography is an image registered with use of coherent laser light. It allows preserving the 3-D information of a holographed subject. With a single source of white light, the image is â€Å"played back† and appears in 3-D exactly as it was registered in the studio. Image can project deep inside, or â€Å"stick† out of the picture. Virtually impossible to copy and displaying unique visual effects, they present themselves as an unbeatable security solution for brand protection and brand promotion. 22. The Holography is based upon Nobel Prize winner Dennis Gabor's theory concerning interference patterns.Gabor theorized in 1947 that each crest of the wave pattern contains the whole information of its original source, and that this information could be stored on film and reproduced. This is why it is called a Holography. 23. Holography is the only visual recording and playback process that can record our three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional recording med ium and playback the original object or scene, to the unaided eyes, as a three dimensional image. The image demonstrates complete parallax and depth-of-field.The image floats in space either behind, in front of, or straddling the recording medium The Universe as a Holography 24. In 1982 a remarkable event took place. Aspect and his team discovered that under certain circumstances subatomic particles such as electrons are able to instantaneously communicate with each other regardless of the distance separating them. University of London physicist David Bohm, for example, believes Aspect's findings imply that objective reality does not exist, that despite its apparent solidity the universe is at heart a phantasm, a gigantic and splendidly detailed Holography.To understand why Bohm makes this startling assertion, one must first understand a little about Holographys. A Holography is a three- dimensional photograph made with the aid of a laser. To make a Holography, the object to be phot ographed is first bathed in the light of a laser beam. When the film is developed, it looks like a meaningless swirl of light and dark lines. But as soon as the developed film is illuminated by another laser beam, a three-dimensional image of the original object appears. 24.If a Holography of a rose is cut in half and then illuminated by a laser, each half will still be found to contain the entire image of the rose. Indeed, even if the halves are divided again, each snippet of film will always be found to contain a smaller but intact version of the original image. Unlike normal photographs, every part of a Holography contains all the information possessed by the whole. 25. This insight suggested to Bohm another way of understanding Aspect's discovery. Imagine an aquarium containing a fish. This, says Bohm, is precisely what is going on between the subatomic particles in Aspect's experiment. 6. According to Bohm, the apparent faster-than-light connection between subatomic particles i s really telling us that there is a deeper level of reality we are not privy to, a more complex dimension beyond our own that is analogous to the aquarium. And, he adds, we view objects such as subatomic particles as separate from one another because we are seeing only a portion of their reality. Such particles are not separate â€Å"parts†, but facets of a deeper and more underlying unity that is ultimately as holographic and indivisible as the previously mentioned rose.And since everything in physical reality is comprised of these â€Å"eidolons†, the universe is itself a projection, a Holography. In addition to its phantomlike nature, such a universe would possess other rather startling features. If the apparent separateness of subatomic particles is illusory, it means that at a deeper level of reality all things in the universe are infinitely interconnected. 27. In a holographic universe, even time and space could no longer be viewed as fundamentals. What else the superHolography contains is an open-ended question.Bohm is not the only researcher who has found evidence that the universe is a Holography. Working independently in the field of brain research, Standford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram has also become persuaded of the holographic nature of reality. 28. Pribram was drawn to the holographic model by the puzzle of how and where memories are stored in the brain. In a series of landmark experiments in the 1920s, brain scientist Karl Lashley found that no matter what portion of a rat's brain he removed he was unable to radicate its memory of how to perform complex tasks it had learned prior to surgery. Then in the 1960s Pribram encountered the concept of holography and realized he had found the explanation brain scientists had been looking for. Pribram believes memories are encoded not in neurons, or small groupings of neurons, but in patterns of nerve impulses that crisscross the entire brain in the same way that patterns of laser light interference crisscross the entire area of a piece of film containing a holographic image. In other words, Pribram believes the brain is itself a Holography. 9. Pribram's theory also explains how the human brain can store so many memories in so little space. It has been estimated that the human brain has the capacity to memorize something on the order of 10 billion bits of information during the average human lifetime (or roughly the same amount of information contained in five sets of the Encyclopaedia Britannica). 30. Our uncanny ability to quickly retrieve whatever information we need from the enormous store of our memories becomes more understandable if the brain functions according to holographic principles.Because every portion of a Holography is infinitely interconnected with ever other portion, it is perhaps nature's supreme example of a cross-correlated system. 31. The storage of memory is not the only neurophysiological puzzle that becomes more tractable in light of Pribra m's holographic model of the brain. Another is how the brain is able to translate the avalanche of frequencies it receives via the senses (light frequencies, sound frequencies, and so on) into the concrete world of our perceptions.Encoding and decoding frequencies is precisely what a Holography does best. Just as a Holography functions as a sort of lens, a translating device able to convert an apparently meaningless blur of frequencies into a coherent image, Pribram believes the brain also comprises a lens and uses holographic principles to mathematically convert the frequencies it receives through he senses into the inner world of our perceptions. 32. An impressive body of evidence suggests that the brain uses holographic principles to perform its operations.Argentinian-Italian researcher Hugo Zucarelli recently extended the holographic model into the world of acoustic phenomena. Puzzled by the fact that humans can locate the source of sounds without moving their heads, even if the y only possess hearing in one ear, Zucarelli discovered that holographic principles can explain this ability. Pribram's belief that our brains mathematically construct â€Å"hard† reality by relying on input from a frequency domain has also received a good deal of experimental support. 33.Researchers have discovered, for instance, that our visual systems are sensitive to sound frequencies, that our sense of smell is in part dependent on what are now called â€Å"osmic frequencies†, and that even the cells in our bodies are sensitive to a broad range of frequencies. For if the concreteness of the world is but a secondary reality and what is â€Å"there† is actually a holographic blur of frequencies, and if the brain is also a Holography and only selects some of the frequencies out of this blur and mathematically transforms them into sensory perceptions, what becomes of objective reality? 4. We are really â€Å"receivers† floating through a kaleidoscopic se a of frequency, and what we extract from this sea and transmogrify into physical reality is but one channel from many extracted out of the superHolography. 35. This striking new picture of reality, the synthesis of Bohm and Pribram's views, has come to be called the holographic paradigm, and although many scientists have greeted it with skepticism, it has galvanized others. A small but growing group of researchers believe it may be the most accurate model of reality science has arrived at thus far.Numerous researchers, including Bohm and Pribram, have noted that many para-psychological phenomena become much more understandable in terms of the holographic paradigm. 36. In a universe in which individual brains are actually indivisible portions of the greater Holography and everything is infinitely interconnected, telepathy may merely be the accessing of the holographic level. It is obviously much easier to understand how information can travel from the mind of individual ‘A' to that of individual ‘B' at a far distance point and helps to understand a number of unsolved puzzles in psychology.In particular, Grof feels the holographic paradigm offers a model for understanding many of the baffling phenomena experienced by individuals during altered states of consciousness. TYPES OF VR SYSTEMS 37. This section describes some of the common modes used in VR systems. a. Window on World Systems (WoW) Some systems use a conventional computer monitor to display the visual world. This sometimes called Desktop VR or a Window on a World (WoW). This concept traces its lineage back through the entire history of computer graphics.In 1965, Ivan Sutherland laid out a research program for computer graphics in a paper called â€Å"The Ultimate Display† that has driven the field for the past nearly thirty years. â€Å"One must look at a display screen,† he said, â€Å"as a window through which one beholds a virtual world. The challenge to computer graphics i s to make the picture in the window look real, sound real and the objects act real. † b. Video Mapping A variation of the WoW approach merges a video input of the user's silhouette with a 2D computer graphic. The user watches a monitor that shows his body's interaction with the world.Myron Kruger has been a champion of this form of VR since the late 60's. He has published two books on the subject: â€Å"Artificial Reality† and â€Å"Artificial Reality II†. At least one commercial system uses this approach, the Mandala system. This system is based on a Commodore Amiga with some added hardware and software. A version of the Mandala is used by the cable TV channel Nickelodeon for a game show (Nick Arcade) to put the contestants into what appears to be a large video game. c. Immersive Systems The ultimate VR systems completely immerse the user's personal viewpoint inside the virtual world.These â€Å"immersive† VR systems are often equipped with a Head Mounted Display (HMD). This is a helmet or a face mask that holds the visual and auditory displays. The helmet may be free ranging, tethered, or it might be attached to some sort of a boom armature. A nice variation of the immersive systems use multiple large projection displays to create a ‘Cave' or room in which the viewer(s) stand. An early implementation was called â€Å"The Closet Cathedral† for the ability to create the impression of an immense environment. within a small physical space.The Holodeck used in the television series â€Å"Star Trek: The Next Generation† is afar term extrapolation of this technology. d. Telepresence Telepresence is a variation on visualizing complete computer generated worlds. This a technology links remote sensors in the real world with the senses of a human operator. The remote sensors might be located on a robot, or they might be on the ends of WALDO like tools. Fire fighters use remotely operated vehicles to handle some dangerous c onditions. Surgeons are using very small instruments on cables to do surgery without cutting a major hole in their patients.The instruments have a small video camera at the business end. Robots equipped with telepresence systems have already changed the way deep sea and volcanic exploration is done. NASA plans to use telerobotics for space exploration. There is currently a joint US/Russian project researching telepresence for space rover exploration. e. Mixed Reality Merging the Telepresence and Virtual Reality systems gives the Mixed Reality or Seamless Simulation systems. Here the computer generated inputs are merged with telepresence inputs and/or the users view of the real world.A surgeon's view of a brain surgery is overlaid with images from earlier CAT scans and real-time ultrasound. A fighter pilot sees computer generated maps and data displays inside his fancy helmet visor or on cockpit displays. The phrase â€Å"fish tank virtual reality† was used to describe a Canad ian VR system reported in the 1993 InterCHI proceedings. It combines a stereoscopic monitor display using liquid crystal shutter glasses with a mechanical head tracker. The resulting system is superior to simple stereo-WoW systems due to the motion parallax effects introduced by the head tracker. What Is Virtual World? 39.Virtual worlds are three dimensional environments in which you can interact with others and create objects as part of that interaction. How do you do that? You appear as an avatar in the virtual world: an avatar is a virtual representation of you (a ‘virtual ego’) which can take on any shape or form as you so wish. 40. There are a range of virtual worlds to choose from which include fantasy, sport, historical and science fiction. Some are loosely based upon the real world but others such as fantasy worlds are as the name says: they are completely disconnected from the real world which is also part of their attraction.With virtual worlds, men appear as women and vice versa. Some people choose an animal as their alter ego. Whatever you choose the aim is to socially interact with other people in new and exciting ways. This all adds to the experience. You can communicate with another person using text, sound, graphical images and gesture. Some of the more advanced worlds allow you to use voice or touch. FEW VIRTUAL REALITY TECHNOLOGIES THAT ACTUALLY WORK AT PRESENT 41. So far, virtual reality has mostly  been a colossal disappointment. But VR has had its share of breakthroughs and innovative applications.Here are few VR technologies that work and that may yet point the way to truly successful virtual reality. a. Anxiety Therapy For years now, virtual environments have been used to  treat anxiety problems  with exposure therapy. Psychologists treat phobias and post traumatic stress disorder by exposing the patient to the thing that causes them anxiety and letting the anxiety dissipate on its own. But this proves difficult if you r stressor is a battlefield in Iraq. Enter virtual reality. Military psychologists use simulated Iraq war situations to treat soldiers.Other therapeutic VR uses include treating a fear of flying, fear of elevators, and even a â€Å"virtual nicotine craving† simulator for smoking addiction. b. VR Training Programs Virtual reality environments have also been used for training simulators. The earliest examples were flight simulators but VR training has expanded beyond just that. There are many modern military examples, including Iraqi cultural situations and battlefield simulators for soldiers. Other examples include counter-terrorism, para-trooping, welding, and mining training simulators. c.Multiplayer Online Gaming One result of virtual-reality research is the existence of entirely separate virtual worlds, inhabited entirely by the avatars of real world users. These worlds are sometimes referred to as massively multiplayer online games, and the  World of Warcraft  is the largest virtual gaming world in use now, with 11. 5 million subscribers. Another example is  Second Life. The world of Second Life can't really be classified as a game, since the goal seems really just to be to wander around and interact with people, much like the real world.There is even a  Second Life Shakespeare Company  that performs Shakespeare's works within Second Life. d. The Nintendo Wii Probably the most successful cousin of virtual reality on the market today is the Nintento Wii. The Wii owes its motion capture and intuitive interaction concepts to the virtual reality technologies of the past. The controller is basically a simplified version of the â€Å"virtual reality glove. † Both the Wiimote and the Wii Fit offer users another way of interacting with their virtual environment without having to wear any bulky equipment. e. Medical ProceduresModern medicine has also found many uses for virtual reality. Doctors can interact with virtual systems to practice p rocedures or to do tiny surgical procedures on a larger scale. Surgeons have also started using virtual â€Å"twins† of their patients, to practice for surgery before doing the actual procedure. f. Project Natal The latest entry in the virtual reality inspired gaming world is  Project Natal, a new piece of technology under development now for the Xbox. Project Natal proposes a new way of interacting with games, and indeed with computer systems in general.In their demo video, they propose a system that requires no keyboard and no controller, where a user's voice and motions serve as their method for interacting with the system. The demo video is impressive, but the technology has not been completed and released yet. When it does get released, however, virtual reality will take another giant step towards total immersion and common home usage. g. The Cave The term â€Å"CAVE† refers to any virtual reality system that uses multiple walls with multiple projectors to immer se users in a virtual world. The first CAVE was built in 1992 as a method of showing of scientific visualizations.Now, many universities have their own CAVE systems. The CAVE is used for visualizing data, for demonstrating 3D environments, and for virtually testing component parts of newly developed engineering projects. THE EXTREME FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY 42. When it comes right down to it, having a physical body in a reality constrained by the limitations of the physical laws has many drawbacks. Our bodies are extremely fragile and can be damaged or killed in an instant if we are not careful, or are just plain unlucky. If anything goes wrong with a critical body part, the entire body could die.Our physical bodies are also deteriorated by aging. Either way, for now, if your body dies, your brain dies right along with it. Every human brain contains an immense wealth of information, memories, experiences and relationships. Every time a human brain dies, that incredible, unique weal th of knowledge dies with it, and is forever lost. The world is a dangerous place to inhabit in a fragile human body, and there are a lot of other problems that come with having a physical presence in a physical world. Using the bathroom, body odor, difficulty traveling, limitation of possibilities, just to name a few.Up to this point, we have had no alternative to life, besides death. Due to nanotechnology, there may come a time when people will actually have a choice between life in the â€Å"real world,† an existence inside a computer generated simulation, or death. Vertebrane – Enter The Matrix 43. â€Å"Vertebrane† is the term for a speculative brain-computer interface technology first proposed by Marshall Brain in the bookManna. The technology consists of a computer system packaged as a replacement for one of the upper cervical vertebra in the human spine. The Vertebrane system taps into all sensory and motor nerve bundles flowing to and from the brain.Ver tebrane allows for augmented reality or a complete disconnection of the brain from the biological body and subsequent electronic reconnection to a virtual body typically inhabiting a virtual world. It would be the â€Å"ultimate videogame controller. † 44. Everything you enjoy about the real world and your real body it will be possible to duplicate exactly in the virtual environment. It will also be possible to improve everything you enjoy, and make virtually (pun intended) anything that was once impossible, possible for you. 45. The Vertebrane system itself would consist of a diminutive, yet extremely powerful nanocomputer.Power would come from a small onboard fuel cell that uses blood glucose to generate electricity. The system would be installed by a robotic surgeon which would sever the spinal cord and reroute it into the Vertebrane. All sensory nerve pathways (optic, auditory etc. ) would be tapped into the system. In pass-through mode, the Vertebrane would act as if it was not there, and you would be able to function completely normally. In â€Å"game† mode, the vertebrane would disconnect your brain from your body and reconnect it to your virtual avatar. The Day You Discard Your Body: 46. Given the choice of being in your real body vs. our avatar, you will choose your avatar every time. Therefore, your biological body will become redundant and irrelevant. It will become possible to discard your body and have only your brain housed in a Brain Storage Facility, connected to a vertebrane-type computer. Here, along with thousands of other brains, your brain will be encased in a protective, liquid-filled life-support system chamber. This will eliminate all of the risks that come along with having a body. It will also greatly increase longevity by keeping the environmental conditions perpetually at ideal levels, and removing almost all risk factors of your previous life.Brain Storage Facilities will be maximum security, reinforced buildings, imp ervious to earthquakes, hurricanes, bombs, etc. Electronic Transcendence 47. Incredibly, it is possible to envision something even more radical than disembodied human brains connected to a simulated reality. The ultimate in virtual reality involves discarding not only your physical body, but also your physical brain. â€Å"Mind uploading,† â€Å"whole brain emulation,† or â€Å"mind transfer† is the theoretical process of transferring the essence of a biological brain into a computer system. There are several proposed techniques by which mind uploading could be achieved.Many mainstream research funders are not convinced of its feasibility; however some scientists do believe that this hypothetical and futuristic technology will one day become reality, so to speak. 48. Once uploaded, a mind would achieve immortality, existing as pure information, disassociated from the biological body and brain. The upload would be considered a form of artificial intelligence, som etimes referred to as an â€Å"infomorph† or â€Å"noomorph. † A digital mind could theoretically be backed up, copied, or restarted at various set points, raising interesting questions regarding individuality and identity. CONCLUSIONS If A Picture is worth a 1,000 words – How much is a Holographic Image worth these days? † 49. Holographic and Virtual Reality Technology has endless applications, as far as the human mind can imagine. These technologies are indeed available and getting more robust in abilities each year. Holographic and Virtual Reality Technologies are not just about art or business communication, they are about safety, security, education, planning and the strength of our civilization here and beyond. 50. From entertainment to data visualization we can see a bright future for Holographic Projection and the bending and manipulation of light.Those areas of society which most often bring about research and development funding in technology are present amongst the many potential applications for this science. It therefore stands to reason and makes common sense that Holographic Technologies and Spectral Imaging will become a very integral part of human societies and civilizations in the future. I am certain of that. The day people show there advertisements on clouds are very near. One fine day my son may ask from me (â€Å"ThaTha†) are you real or virtual.

Friday, January 3, 2020

The Price of Diamonds Is Too High Essay - 1215 Words

Introduction This essay supports the statement â€Å"The price of diamonds is too high†. Diamonds have always been presumed to be rare. They have been present in history as a symbol of wealth and luxury as they were so difficult to find. Nowadays diamonds are mined and are found all over the world but they are sold through a cartel. (Epstein 1982) A cartel limits the supply of a product in order to keep prices high and to limit competition. (South African Pocket Oxford Dictionary: 2002) This raises the question of whether diamonds are actually worth their price. This essay focuses on the origins and the basic theory behind the diamond cartel; the early operation of the cartel; De Beers’ strong market campaign; determining De Beers’ current†¦show more content†¦The diamond cartel shifts the market equilibrium to the shareholders’ preference – as shown in figure 3. This way a higher profit is made from the sales of diamonds because of the perceived scarc ity. Rhodes was insightful to use the number of wedding engagements as a ballpark figure for the supply of diamonds (Bergenstock and Maskulka: 2001) Graph showing the Relationship between Inelastic Supply and Demand Figure 3: Approximation from Parkin (2013) The diamond cartel has been in existence for over a hundred years. (Spar: 2006) It has faced many issues in order to survive and prosper. (Kretschmer: 1998) Rhodes’ method was sufficient during the early 1900s. (Spar:2006) By 1930, the price of diamonds had fallen and the war was looming; Europeans were not interested in buying diamonds. (Epstein: 1982) It changed ownership to the Oppenheimers around about the Great Depression. Thus began the exploitive marketing tactics of the 20th century. (Epstein: 1982) De Beers’ strong marketing campaign De Beers was aware that the only market where diamonds could sell was in the Unites States of America. Harry Oppenheimer used the American advertising agency N.W. Ayer to change the public’s perception on diamonds.(Epstein: 1982) The campaign used many tactics which included the slogan â€Å"A diamond isShow MoreRelatedThe Price of Diamonds is Too High Essays1079 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"THE PRICE OF DIAMONDS IS TOO HIGH† For more than a century the diamond industry has flourished beyond expectations. The diamond has grown from a small yet rare gem stone to that of a rather large and powerful symbol of wealth. The industry has been controlled by one major corporation, De Beers. De beers along with the cartel it set up has built an industry that will last forever. (Spar, 2006) This paper will analyse the diamond industry, paying specific attention to the cartel, how it operates;Read MoreEssay on The Price of Diamonds Is too High984 Words   |  4 PagesThe Price of Diamonds Is Too High For centuries the diamond has fascinated man for its alluring sparkle and physical hardness. Formed about three billion years ago, the diamond may very well be the oldest and most precious item any person can own. The internationally accepted notion that this commodity is one of the most treasurable commodity of them all has led to the public being prepared to pay the prices that are set by a group of companies in an agreement known as a cartel. This essay willRead MoreThe Price of Diamonds Is too High Essay1119 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The price of diamonds is too high† This essay discusses the statement â€Å"the price of diamonds is too high†; it will analyze the diamond cartel and its history in order to determine the validity of this statement. Various microeconomic theories will be discussed and explained, all of which are involved in the diamond cartel. The Oxford Dictionary defines a cartel as â€Å"an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition†Read MoreEssay about The Price of Diamonds Is Too High1177 Words   |  5 PagesStatement: â€Å"The price of diamonds is too high.† The diamond cartel is the most successful and long-lasting cartel in history. The cartel created a scarcity for diamond and stabilized the prices at a high level. This essay will be discussing the validity of the statement with reference to the market of the diamond industry, history of the diamond cartel, how the price of diamonds is determined, and the implications thereof. â€Å"A cartel is a group of firms acting together†¦to limit output, raise prices, and increaseRead MoreThe Price of Diamonds Is too High in the Modern Market Essay1281 Words   |  6 Pagesmore dependent on diamonds as the years go by. From finding this rare gem in the depths of the earths’ crust, to it now being used as a certain love gesture. The rarity of this beautiful gem has changed, however has the price of diamonds changed accordingly with its value (placed upon by society). This essay will effectively argue that the price of diamonds is too high in the market in the present day as a result of various economic factors. The essay will give information on diamond cartels and howRead MoreThe Price of Diamonds Is Too High The price of diamonds has been controlled, up until recently, by1700 Words   |  7 PagesThe Price of Diamonds Is Too High The price of diamonds has been controlled, up until recently, by cartels. Cartels are formed when suppliers of a particular product or service formally agree not to compete with one another. Cartel agreements usually determine the price, output and supply levels as well as where and to whom the product will be distributed to. De Beers is one of the commonly heard names with regard to diamonds. Up until recently De Beers controlled the diamond industry. It bothRead MoreThe History of the Diamond Cartel and Its Role in Determining the Price of Diamonds1174 Words   |  5 PagesDiamonds have been identified as being precious but expensive gems for many decades. Diamonds were extremely rare, only found in India and Brazil until the late nineteenth century (Vogelsang, 2005: 5). After the discovery of diamonds in South Africa, the diamond industry began to flourish. Diamonds then became very abundant and cheap to produce. In order for the value of diamonds to remain as high as they were during the phase in which they were still rare, a diamond cartel was introduced. A cartelRead MoreShould Diamonds Cost so Much? Essay1132 Words   |  5 PagesDiamonds have long been considered some of the most prized and sought after possessions. They have been perceived as indicators of wealth and romance. The diamond market however; has been one of the most controversial and controlled markets in history run by a cartel â€Å"†¦an association of suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition† (Oxford English dictionary) formed to prevent the market from becoming flooded with diamonds from too many suppliers, resultingRead MoreEssay on The DeBeers Diamond Cartel1139 Words   |  5 Pagesdiscovery of diamonds, the precious gem has always remained an item of luxury and great beauty and one that requires a great deal of financial sacrifice in order to acquire. Prices of diamonds have remained relatively stable over the last 100 years while prices of other commodities have fluctuated heavily (Hauser, 2002). Diamonds are a relatively rare commodity which gives them a high value and with the help of De Beer’s advertising campaign, spanning the last six decades, that high value appealRead MorePov Analysis Debeers1219 Words   |  5 PagesPOV ANALYSIS #1 De Beers Diamonds Corrin Wigren 10/10/11 Situation: The De Beers name has always been synonymous with diamonds due largely impart to the fact that in order for anyone to deal in the diamond business, at some point they will have to deal with at least one of our subsidiary companies, retailers or distributors. De Beers owns 43% of the worlds’ market shares of rough diamonds, but this is way down from the 80% we were at in the 80’s. The diamond demand is at the mercy of an