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I mean, LED bulbs have made traditional ones redundant and have incredibly long lifespans, so this isn't really true any more. The article makes some good poin

by Latty 9y ago

I mean, LED bulbs have made traditional ones redundant and have incredibly long lifespans, so this isn't really true any more. The article makes some good points that lifespan was controlled, but not as drastically as you imply. They were talking about losing a third of the lifespan. While yes, they were clearly aiming to reduce the lifespan of bulbs, they did so by making the bulbs better (brighter) in a way that made consumers want those bulbs. If you could do both brighter and longer lifespan, I'm sure someone would have (it's not like that cartel is still going - 1940 was a long time ago) - I don't think what they did was that dissimilar to desktop software moving to subscription models to increase profit - as long as they introduce value from that change to justify it, then it's not wrong. The century-old bulb is an extreme outlier and there was never an expectation for anything to last that long. Trying to imply that modern bulbs are handicapped intentionally to such an extreme is just misleading.

marcosdumay 9y ago
> they did so by making the bulbs better (brighter) in a way that made consumers want those bulbs. Brighter and more efficient.
freehunter 9y ago
Yeah, that old lightbulb is so dim that it's basically completely useless. Even if it lasts 300 years, I don't want it in my house. I want lightbulbs that can actually illuminate a book well enough to read the words. It's hardly a conspiracy. You can keep an old car running forever, but I want a car with air conditioning, power locks, Bluetooth, ABS, power steering, variable valve timing, and good gas milage. All of those things are complicated systems that are expensive to repair and break easily. Doesn't mean the older car is better or newer cars are a rip off.
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
> If you could do both brighter and longer lifespan, I'm sure someone would have No, they did, that's what is called a halogen lamp, quite a bit more efficient, lasts about twice as long.
- Latty 9y ago
  And a lot hotter and more expensive - hence why they didn't replace normal bulbs.
  - zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
    Well, no. Yes, a bit more expensive to buy, but not more expensive TCO if they were actually on a lot, at least for the low-voltage versions. And also, obviously not hotter, how could they be more efficient at producing light, and still be hotter? Yes, the filament in halogen lamps is running hotter, that's why they are more efficient (and the halogen process is what keeps the filament intact despite the high temperature), but they're also more compact--the total amount of thermal power produced by a halogen lamp of equal light output as a regular incandescent bulb is lower, and thus, if you put it into the same form factor and under the same cooling conditions, it's actually going to be cooler at the surface.

by Latty 9y ago

marcosdumay 9y ago

> they did so by making the bulbs better (brighter) in a way that made consumers want those bulbs. Brighter and more efficient.

freehunter 9y ago

Yeah, that old lightbulb is so dim that it's basically completely useless. Even if it lasts 300 years, I don't want it in my house. I want lightbulbs that can actually illuminate a book well enough to read the words. It's hardly a conspiracy. You can keep an old car running forever, but I want a car with air conditioning, power locks, Bluetooth, ABS, power steering, variable valve timing, and good gas milage. All of those things are complicated systems that are expensive to repair and break easily. Doesn't mean the older car is better or newer cars are a rip off.

zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago

> If you could do both brighter and longer lifespan, I'm sure someone would have No, they did, that's what is called a halogen lamp, quite a bit more efficient, lasts about twice as long.

Latty 9y ago
And a lot hotter and more expensive - hence why they didn't replace normal bulbs.
- zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 9y ago
  Well, no. Yes, a bit more expensive to buy, but not more expensive TCO if they were actually on a lot, at least for the low-voltage versions. And also, obviously not hotter, how could they be more efficient at producing light, and still be hotter? Yes, the filament in halogen lamps is running hotter, that's why they are more efficient (and the halogen process is what keeps the filament intact despite the high temperature), but they're also more compact--the total amount of thermal power produced by a halogen lamp of equal light output as a regular incandescent bulb is lower, and thus, if you put it into the same form factor and under the same cooling conditions, it's actually going to be cooler at the surface.