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Build a Better Bulb for a $10 Million Prize
- andyf 17y agoAnother case of "government intervention" that will benefit us in the long run.
- fishercs 17y agoimo this is how government should work, not do the work for us, but promote and reward for the work that is done.
- physcab 17y agoI was somewhat surprised by the cost. They mention current LED bulb prices around $100 and are driving it towards $20-$25. Which ones are they talking about? I found some on Amazon for $5-$10. Maybe it's not the right kind of white light. I know that LEDs have pretty low spread (they only cover 10's of nm in wavelength) and in order to assemble a good white light you have to have the right number and intensity of LEDs to produce the consumer-friendly color.
- fishercs 17y agoI believe the actual problem with LED's is the fact that lowering voltage output to an LED doesn't make the light dim. I remember reading an article about this somewhere, it was a little over my head but a pretty interesting read if someone has the link available.
- MaysonL 17y agoThe $5-10 bulbs on Amazon are by no means replacements for 60W incandescents - they seem to be 1-3W LEDs, which would only be 10-20W replacements at best.
- _ck_ 17y agohttp://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=842723 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=842723
- icey 17y agoI've scrolled past this headline 5 times now, and every time I've thought it said "Build a better BLUB for a $10 million prize". This place has ruined my ability to read 4 letter words.
- jcapote 17y agoGlad I wasn't the only one!
- zck 17y agoI'm glad they're responding to people's reactions to compact florescent bulbs. A lot of people could be saving money with them, but aren't. My father, for instance, refuses to switch. I asked him, and he said he doesn't know why. Even after I made sure he knew they weren't that expensive, and would save him money over the medium-term, he won't consider them. Maybe if LED bulbs have more bugs ironed out when they're introduced, they'll be more accepted.