The Light Bulb Conspiracy, also known as Pyramids of Waste, is a 2010 documentary film written and directed by Cosima Dannoritzer. An international co-production of France and Spain, the film explores the planned obsolescence of industrial products for commercial reasons. The film focuses on the Phoebus cartel, an international alliance of lightbulb manufacturers, which conspired to reduce the life span of incandescent bulbs. The film was shot over three years in Europe, the US, and Ghana, and investigates the evolution and impact of planned obsolescence through interviews with historians, economists, designers, and others.
The “lightbulb conspiracy” refers to a notorious episode in the history of planned obsolescence, centered around the Phoebus cartel of the 1920s. The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy is a 2019 study that proved that large corporations were hardwiring planned failures into their products. The documentary aims to highlight the year of Sustainable Energy for All and the ongoing effects of planned obsolescence.
The film explores the history, motives, and legacy of the Phoebus cartel, which controlled the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs in Europe and North America. The documentary highlights the importance of sustainable energy and the need for companies to address the issue of planned obsolescence.
📹 The Light Bulb Conspiracy(Extended Version)
What is the summary of light bulb?
Light-bulbs, which produce light from electricity, are used in various applications such as lighting dark spaces, directing traffic, and providing heat. They have evolved from candles and oil lamps to the more efficient incandescent lightbulb invented by Thomas Alva Edison and Joseph Swann in the 1880s. Improved vacuum pumps and materials in the late 20th century made these lights longer and brighter, making them the main type for the 20th century. Electric power stations brought electricity to urban and rural areas, and later gas discharge lights, including fluorescent lights, use less electricity to produce more light.
What is the human bulb effect?
High wet-bulb temperatures are dangerous as humans lose around 80 percent of their heat through sweating, making it harder to shed excess heat. This phenomenon, known as the wet-bulb effect, occurs when temperature and humidity increase to a point where it is impossible for humans to cool down and regulate their body temperature. Climate scientist Kristina Dahl explains that the wet-bulb temperature readings change depending on the humidity level, indicating how well humans can cool themselves by sweating.
The wet-bulb effect is not a week-long or immediate process, but rather occurs over a six-hour period, not even a full workday in the field. Working a singular day at this temperature could lead to fatality, even for the fittest and heat-acclimated individuals. The heat becomes too much for the human body to handle, making it difficult for the body to escape.
What is the deeper meaning of the light bulb?
The light bulb, invented by Edison, is a symbol of human progress and innovation. It revolutionized daily life by providing efficient illumination. The light bulb symbolizes the triumph of innovation over adversity, the power of science and engineering to shape the future, and the limitless potential of creative thinking. The image of a glowing light bulb above a person’s head is a universal symbol recognized globally, transcending language and cultural barriers. This iconic representation serves as a reminder that good ideas can spark positive change, illuminate our path forward, and have a lasting impact on society and the world.
Why did Canada ban incandescent bulbs?
In 2007, Ontario’s energy minister Dwight Duncan announced the provincial government’s intention to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs by 2012. The federal government also announced a ban on inefficient incandescent bulb sales nationwide by 2012 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2011, the federal government approved a proposal to delay new energy efficiency standards until January 2014, making it illegal to import inefficient incandescent lighting.
In December 2011, Ontario Energy Minister Chris Bentley confirmed that the five-year-old plan was scrapped to avoid confusion for consumers. The Energy Star program, a partnership with Natural Resources Canada, established rules for labeling lamps that meet efficiency, starting time, life expectancy, color, and performance standards to reduce consumer concerns about the quality of products.
What was the problem with the incandescent light bulb?
In the early days of electric light, British inventors demonstrated the possibility of electric light with the arc lamp. In 1835, the first constant electric light was demonstrated, and for the next 40 years, scientists worldwide worked on the incandescent bulb, tinkering with the filament and the bulb’s atmosphere. These early bulbs had short lifespans, were expensive to produce, and used too much energy.
When Thomas Edison and his researchers at Menlo Park began to improve the filament, they tested carbon, platinum, and finally carbon filament. By October 1879, Edison’s team had produced a carbonized filament of uncoated cotton thread that could last for 14. 5 hours. They continued to experiment with filament until they settled on a bamboo filament that gave Edison’s lamps a lifetime of up to 1, 200 hours. This filament became the standard for the Edison bulb for the next 10 years.
Edward also made other improvements to the light bulb, including creating a better vacuum pump to remove air from the bulb and developing the Edison screw, which is now the standard socket fittings for light bulbs. There was debate on whether Edison’s patents infringed on other inventors’ patents, but Edison’s U. S. lighting company merged with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric, and his English lighting company merged with Joseph Swan’s company to form Ediswan in England.
What is the light bulb theorem?
The classical light bulb theorem postulates that a knot in S² × S¹ intersecting S² × y transversely and in a single point is isotopic to the standard vertical curve.
What is the flash bulb theory?
Flashbulb memory (FM) is a vivid, enduring memory for how one learned about a surprising, shocking event. It involves memory for the source of event information, as opposed to memory for the event itself. The brain regions involved in FM are uncertain, with medial temporal lobe/diencephalic (MTL/D) damage impairing content or item memory and frontal lobe (FL) damage associated with impaired source memory. Two recent reports do not support this idea, suggesting that FM should depend on the FLs.
In a study examining memory for the events of September 11th, MTL/D patients were found to be impaired in long-term memory for the event itself, measured after a 6 month retention interval. FL patients showed a selective deficit in source memory, although their memory for the target event was unimpaired. MTL/D and FL structures appear to play different roles in memory for flashbulb events.
People often report vivid, long-lasting recollections of the circumstances in which they learned shocking, emotionally-arousing news. Examples of such cases include the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. FMs appear to be more accurate and consistent than memories for less emotional events that occurred around the same time.
Neuropsychological studies of FM are rare, so the brain regions associated specifically with FMs remain uncertain. This study describes how lesions to the medial temporal lobe/diencephalon (MTL/D) or the frontal lobe (FL) may influence memory for an emotionally arousing public event and memory for how news about that event was acquired.
What is the light bulb theory?
The Centennial Light, the world’s longest-lasting incandescent lamp, is used as evidence of collusion among incandescent lamp manufacturers in the Phoebus cartel, which aimed to limit the average lifespan of lightbulbs to 1000 hours. The market strategy of General Motors’ Alfred P. Sloan, president from 1923 to 1937, is used to illustrate planned obsolescence in the automotive industry. Bernard London’s work Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence suggests that all products should have an expiration date, aiming to stimulate consumption and create jobs.
The Narva brand light bulb is also considered evidence of planned obsolescence in modern light bulbs. Resistant nylon pantyhoses are said to have been made more short-lived to prevent faster wear by using inferior material. The Epson Stylus C42UX inkjet printer is said to issue a defect message after a certain number of printed pages, which can be switched off with special software. The iPod Classic battery is an example of planned obsolescence in modern consumer electronics. The film was screened internationally at film festivals and television, and was broadcast on German television several times in 2011.
What is the story behind the light bulb?
Humphry Davy invented the first electric light in 1802, known as the Electric Arc lamp. However, it was too bright and too short for practical use. Over the next seven decades, other inventors created light bulbs, but no commercial designs emerged. In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue enclosed a coiled platinum filament in a vacuum tube and passed an electric current through it, based on the high melting point of platinum. However, the cost of platinum made it impractical for commercial production.
In 1850, Joseph Wilson Swan created a “light bulb” by enclosing carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he had a working prototype, but the bulb’s lifetime was too short due to the lack of a good vacuum and adequate electricity supply. In the 1870s, better vacuum pumps became available, and Swan continued experiments on light bulbs. In 1878, he developed a longer-lasting light bulb using treated cotton thread, which also removed the problem of early bulb blackening.
What is the light bulb effect in psychology?
Flashbulb memory is analogous to the detail captured in a photograph. It records vivid and intricate details of an event, enabling the brain to retain more detail than is possible with everyday episodic memories. This type of memory is characterized by greater vividness and intricacy.
What is the theory of the bulb?
Incandescent bulbs operate on the principle of incandescence, which means light produced by heat. An electric current is passed through a thin metal filament, heating it until it glows and produces light. Tungsten filaments are commonly used due to their high melting point, which can reach temperatures as high as 4, 500 degrees Fahrenheit. A glass enclosure prevents oxygen from reaching the filament, preventing it from overheating and oxidizing. After the electricity passes through the filament, it goes down another wire and out of the bulb via the metal portion at the socket, entering the lamp or fixture and out a neutral wire.
📹 Planned Obsolescence documentary – The Light Bulb ConspiracyRENT / BUY TO MORE GREAT WORK
The Light Bulb Conspiracy Pret-a-jeter (original title) 53 min | Documentary | France | Spain Once upon a time….. products …
While working for BestBuy in their Pacific Northwest Distribution Center, I saw first hand what was absolutely nauseating. We crushed and dumped not only 100’s of thousands of pounds,but also countless dollars of usable/repairable electronic and white goods, NIGHTLY!!! YES, NIGHTLY!!! Sending them off to “recycle” but smashing them in the process. It literally made me not want to work there any longer. HR puts up this front about caring for the worker, the world, the enviroment and then shits right in the face of all three off the back docks. Sickening.
I speak several languages, german or portugese aren’t one of them… I think the message of this documentary is diminished if we can’t understand large parts of it. Adding subtitles should be a rather simple way of greatly increasing quality. I consider this documentary to be quite important, I think it deserves it.
I’ve bought four refrigerators in the past ten years! But my old 70’s deep freezer still runs! With the population growing, I can only imagine how many repetitive purchases are being piled into mountainous landfills! Then they complain about waste and climate change when being the sole cause of it, claiming to be “carbon neutral”. They are barking up the wrong tree complaining to consumers who have no choices nowadays! Products are ugly, less practical and generic now too! We’ve degraded in so many ways!
I purchased enough incandescent electric light bulbs to last the rest of My life. CFL and LED replacements are unsatisfactory and do not generate the warmth and color incandescent electric light bulbs create IMHO. The US Congress passed legislation prohibiting the sale of incandescent electric light bulbs. One good deal after another.
What is disgusting is the move of Planned Obsolescence into the internet, as people stop writing articles and webpages, and instead are lazy and illiterate, and just post up a article of their head talking. They no longer are writers or publishers, just talkers… Writing is an Art. Writing preserves your thoughts and ideas for countless generations to come in the future… articles ? Different formats, too big, and incompatable.
Too much untranslated foreign speech. But I get the jist of it of course. Now retrofit lighting units contain a power supply, a heatsink, often a logic, sensors and a decorative shade. If one component fails, the entire unit bust be tossed. They are built cheap in China on purpose to not last the claimed 15,000 hours. In flashlights it is not possible to replace the LED board that got banged by batteries or leaked onto. Chinese incandescent flashlight bulbs would easily break off at the base. Soviet spherical bulbs were incredible tough, could be dropped or overvolted. No surprise that the obsolescence advocate was a Jew. I don’t get the boost to the conomy. If items lasted forever, people would have more to spend on services, or replacement after they abused the item. The rich could still throw out functional goods for various reasons. A longer life would just offset the purchases into the future.