james bond

Billionaire to set up magazine for snobs | U.S. | Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s super-rich love to flaunt their wealth. Soon they will have a magazine called Snob to help them.

Mikhail Prokhorov — whose wealth is estimated at around $22 billion — plans to spend $150 million setting up a magazine, website and television station called Snob, the general director of the new venture told Reuters on Wednesday.

“It’s for people who are successful and those who want to be successful,” said Andrei Shmarov, who will run Snob.

Prokhorov, 42, made his fortune in the chaotic 1990s when businessmen bought up parts of former Soviet industries for a fraction of their real value.

The Forbes Rich List ranked Prokhorov as the 24th richest person in the world. He is one of the owners of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest nickel producer, and Polyus Gold, Russia’s biggest gold producer.

Looks like a decent Bond villain. Give him a few more years when gold doubles again in price and nickel triples.

Anatomy of an Ikea product | Crave : The gadget blog

“When we decide about a product, we always start with the price,” Deboehmler said. “Then, what is the consumer need?”

For example, the product designers might begin thinking about designing a new flat-screen-television stand. Assuming that there’s evidence such a product is needed–like a trend of many people buying flat-screen TVs–Ikea will set out to design it.

“When we start in the development process, we say we’d like to have a cabinet to hold a large screen TV that’s 42 inches, and priced out to come in at X dollars,” Marston said. “OK, now we’ve said we want it to retail at $500, arbitrarily. What can you make, what can you design, to make it at that price?”

And here’s the evidence.

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