The Light Bulb Conspiracy

You must watch this documentary exactly. That was very good.

Hmm ... 'planned obsolescence' is a two-edged sword: one the one hand it is a redundant waste of resources and a creator of environmental damage both in extraction and disposal, yet it serves the economic growth paradigm that has allowed the historic economic growth of west (capitalism), now under attack under the aegis of the environmental movement, i.e. Global warming, that insists we must cut carbon emissions (decarbonization) to save the natural planet from its human enemies (depopulation).

I wonder: could it be that our privately owned fractional reserve banking system, its inherent debt-based, serial sector boom-to-bust, hyper-inflated nation-state and currency destruction be caused by the accelerated growth made manifest in 'planned obsolescence'; and a simple change in ownership of our banking system (public banking), using a fiat currency that is not debt-based, be a solution leading sustainable growth and product resiliency? Growth must be accelerated to meet the demands of debt that can never be paid off.

The program concentrates NOT on the Phoebus Cartel (as stated in an earlier review), but on the story behind "Planned Obsolescence" and how it has affected consumerism and innovation in modern times.

The title "The light bulb conspiracy" relates to the FIRST known case of planning to make something worse (than they currently were) in order to sell more and make higher profits, and the global conspiracy behind it. However this is only one small part of the story.

By creating a world-wide MAXIMUM limit of 1000 hours (not minimum as stated in an earlier review) on the life of incandescent globes (when they were making 2500 hour globes at that time) they stifled all innovation in that field. (They had FINES for companies whose bulbs lasted longer than 1050 hours, and the more they exceeded this by, the higher the fine)

But Planned Obsolescence was not just limited to Light Bulbs, but to nearly every consumer item manufactured in the western world (and the EASTERN world as well, as so many western companies have their products manufactured in Asia), and has done so until very recent times. Even today obsolescence is achieved, not through planned failure, but through innovation. (Who wants to own and use a Mobile phone that ONLY makes calls and sends text messages, when a newer phone also lets you take photos, surf the internet, play games, etc?) But where does all the OLD, USED, and BROKEN equipment go? Watch the documentary, and you'll see just how irresponsible some companies are with their cast-off equipment.

I liked the story enough to recommend it to my lecturer on ICT Sustainability for my current IT course. He's looking to include it in future classes.

As for being an informative and well made documentary, The Light Bulb Conspiracy suffers a bit from the choice the creators made when naming it something that includes the word conspiracy.

The documentary itself does not focus only on light bulbs, but exemplifies how manufacturers of products make products wear out faster, so that the demand in consumer society increases - making profit for their own company.

Other products that have been adjusted from being long-lasting to wear out within a given time or after a number of uses include printers (which is portrayed in an amusing way in the documentary) and nylon stockings. Products that could last long, are made short-lasting, to keep a high demand, thus keeping up high production.

A number of people who a critical to this way of thinking tells how they think production should be based around sustainability.

Anyone that has been annoyed by things that stop working for no good reason will find this documentary informative.

I love these kinds of documentaries! Those which tells you something new or tells you something you didn't know about something you've been suspecting or thinking, but get confirmed.

This brilliantly made documentary tells about a dark secret which had gone so far that we now accept it. But even worse. The whole concept of "things bing too expensive to fix, buy a new one" is a false. It's fake! Not so that it is produced to fail. No, it can last longer if you know how to do it! A printer is made for lasting 200.000 copies. Then it tells you it's life is over. It's just programmed to stop. You can download a program on your PC install it, to make your printer last another 200.000 copies.

Nasty business, you say! Well, it's in your house! See this, and get enlightened!