The Great Light Bulb Conspiracy

Planned Obsolescence is such a beautiful sounding robbery.

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In this video:

In a dim corner of Fire Station #6 in Livermore, California hangs a truly extraordinary object...a lightbulb. But this is no ordinary lightbulb. First installed in 1901, it has been burning almost continuously ever since, having only been switched off a handful of times in nearly 120 years. The
Livermore Centennial Bulb has become something of a local celebrity, with the city throwing it a
birthday party in 2001 attended by over 1000 people...

Sources:

Dannoritzer, Cosima (dir.) Pret-a-Jeter / The Light Bulb Conspiracy ARTE/Article Z 2010:

Krajewski, Markus, The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy, IEEE Spectrum, September 24, 2014:

Report on the Supply of Electric Lamps, The Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission,

MacKinnon, J.B, The L.E.D Quandary: Why There’s No Such Thing as “Built to Last”, The New Yorker, July 14, 2016

Gaughen, Patrick, Structural Inefficiency in the Early Twentieth Century: Studies in the Aluminum

[Blake]

And nowadays we are seeing a technology cartel, making your phone obsolete by forced updates or by just not supporting your model anymore, no matter how well you took care of it.

[CatsMeowPaw]

We know how to make really long lasting incandescent light bulbs like the Livermore bulb. Don't switch them off, and run them really really dim. Problem is this isn't the type of light bulb people want.

As for LEDs, I buy Philips and OSRAM light bulbs and almost all exceed the 15, 000 hour life span. Just keep them well ventilated. I did have one OSRAM LED light die after 'just' ~7000 hours. I emailed the company and asked about their satisfaction guarantee. They told me to exchange the bulb for a new one at the original store (with receipt), and that's what I did.

Tip: Write the installation date with marker on the base of your LEDs. Really handy to know roughly how long they lasted.

[snowkist]

One of the possible inventors of the light bulb that was not mentioned in this video is Sir Hiram Maxim. He claimed that he had invented the lightbulb first but due to the fact that Edison knew more about patent law, Edison got all the credit. I know about him because he is a great, great (not sure how many greats) grandfather to my kids. Kinda handy to have a person in the family that reports can be written about for school.

[vealck]

Fun fact: in polish language, "osram" means literally "I will shit upon" something. Curiously, Osram didn't change the name of their bulbs for polish market.

[silentcaay]

Screw "self-cleaning" printers. More like "self-emptying" printers. When I first got one it was self-cleaning more often than I was printing and I was running out of ink after just a few print jobs. There was no way to change or disable the cleaning cycle, either, so I had to resort to unplugging it whenever it wasn't in use. I've never had a printer fail on me and need replacement but those things are certainly designed to guzzle ink for no reason at all.

[osanieslana]

This is why packaged goods have an expiration date that almost always has nothing to do with the product actually going bad by the indicated date.

[timcat]

"The only thing Edison didn't patent-jack was patent-jacking."
Sherlock Holmes

[Craftlngo]

planned obsolescence is also a problem for nylon tights. The first produced versions where very durable. By leaving out one stabilising ingredient tights ripped much faster and had to get replaced.

[maksphoto]

I've learned new term today - planned obsolescence. One of the best examples would be ink cartriges for printers.

[oracleofdelphi]

"They don't make them like the used to...."

[tncorgi]

Simon, this reminded me to make a suggestion for either this channel or Business Blaze... about the early days of electrification and the squabbles and lawsuits between Edison and Westinghouse, known then as The Current Wars. Nikola Tesla was also involved. Just seems like a fascinating topic.

[laser]

At least one company made bulbs to last at a price. In 1996 I bought some "7 Year bulbs" from a charity drive. At the time they costed $27 for a 4 pack. In 2020 these incandescent bulbs still are in use. Mostly I've switched to LED for the power reduction, but my old "7 year bulbs" just keep on going.

[uss_]

I remember the “Rush” to buy those 100W/60W incandescents when they were slated to be phased out. Poor warm up times for CFLs, expensive LEDs and people distrustful of the “Obama Ban” just cleared the shelves. Up till a few years ago you might find someone who has an attic full of them, convinced they can sell them for 4 times their worth

[shadowdance]

I have some early LED bulbs that I just keep on constantly except for temporary power outages and they are still going strong after 10 plus years. The new ones last only 1 or 2

[Dubmaster]

As far as the printers go, there have been times when buying a new printer was cheaper than replacing the ink in one so I would just do that rather than buy ink.

[sleepup]

Thomas Edison was the Original Steve Joabs, stealing other technologies and claiming it was "ME"

[thediscolizard]

"vacuum filled bulbs" - wait, what?

[adlayeshay]

This feels weird as someone who works for a small lighting company. Our fittings last around 25k-50k hours and drivers lasting 50k-75k hours Dependent on location and climate. We sell only LED fittings btw. And I mean we barely have to replace fittings from older jobs 3-5 years.

[TurdfurgusonJr]

Simon, I live in livermore... thanks for the love for our little old bulb! Now how about a story about our waste treatment plant with Whales painted on it!

[the_kombinator]

8:15 I have a LaserJet 4300 that's 18 years old with a JetDirect card - still prints crisp prints :D