It's working, it's working!

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Xist

Can they actually afford new cars while in college, or are they spending their money before they earn it?

Often mommy and/or daddy buy the kid a new car. The parents can't break the habit of buying everything for their child, even though the child is now an adult. Being a perpetual provider after it is no longer appropriate can be due to an ego trip or a guilt trip by the parent. Unfortunately it can lead to the cultivation of perpetual dependency and expectation in the recipient.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by nemo

incandescent 60 watt
halogen 43-watt
CFL 13-15 watts
LED 8-12.5

Is this an example of good government intervention or just the free market being trampled?

Guess who signed that bill into law?

Changing of bulb in my house has led to a decrease in consumption.

Well it's undeniable that the bulbs are more costly, although they use less power. Purchasers soon forget the initial cost paid for any item. What you used to pay to the power company you now will be paying to the bulb manufacturer in the up front cost.

I have the dimmable ones in one fixture. If the bulbs are lit on a low setting, when I turn on the stereo, the light goes out. Then I have to turn up the dimmer. Then I smile and say "How wonderful. Seven dollar light bulbs with third world performance". As with wireless phones, we have traded reliable technology for less reliable technology. That's someone's idea of progress.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by XYZ

Well it's undeniable that the bulbs are more costly, although they use less power. Purchasers soon forget the initial cost paid for any item. What you used to pay to the power company you now will be paying to the bulb manufacturer in the up front cost.

we have traded reliable technology for less reliable technology. That's someone's idea of progress.

I buy fluorecent bulbs from the dollar store for a dollar. They last 1-3 years typically. So I am making more toxic trash that gets tossed at some store but I spend less on electricity.

I agree that we are constantly making less reliable technology, even landline phones are less reliable, whether I have cordless or corded phones they only last about a year before they fail, also the landline phones have as much static as the cellphones have cut outs.

Ah well

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by XYZ

Well it's undeniable that the bulbs are more costly, although they use less power. Purchasers soon forget the initial cost paid for any item. What you used to pay to the power company you now will be paying to the bulb manufacturer in the up front cost.

No, because CFLs and especially LEDs last much longer, on average. So you'd have to buy maybe 6 incandescents over the life of one CFL, and maybe 40 to match an LED.

I have the dimmable ones in one fixture. If the bulbs are lit on a low setting, when I turn on the stereo, the light goes out. Then I have to turn up the dimmer.

Why? I mean why a dimmer? Even with incandescents, you're taking an already inefficient technology and making it even more inefficient.

As with wireless phones, we have traded reliable technology for less reliable technology. That's someone's idea of progress.

Landline phone was $32/month when I dropped it. Pay-as-you-go cell is $7/month. Haven't noticed any difference in reliability myself.

[Xist]

So, I have dated various and diverse women, some of whom I have mentioned here. I dated one a year ago with a Mercury Sable that I was trying to keep running. Her roommate, who was on food stamps, kept saying "You don't understand! I need..."

While I dated her roommate, just a few months, she bought two flatscreen televisions, furniture, a 300m or something, from a buy-here, pay-here dealer, extensive tattoos, and a fair amount of clothing. Both were enrolled in community college and receiving student loans. The other one neither attended classes nor did any schoolwork. She certainly never worked.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Xist

While I dated her roommate, just a few months, she bought two flatscreen televisions, furniture, a 300m or something, from a buy-here, pay-here dealer, extensive tattoos, and a fair amount of clothing. Both were enrolled in community college and receiving student loans. The other one neither attended classes nor did any schoolwork. She certainly never worked.

There are some men like this as well, they seem to believe that the loans are free and that they need all sorts of useless crapola. My best friend was that way (he eventually wised up), not much you can say to someone like that, if they want to piss away money it seems impossible to stop them.

Sponges of society

Sadly this is the type of people corp america wants, lots of debt, lots of sales, too bad its not sustainable or usefull in any way.

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

No, because CFLs and especially LEDs last much longer, on average. So you'd have to buy maybe 6 incandescents over the life of one CFL, and maybe 40 to match an LED.

I realize that. But (as I mentioned) the initial coast of the item offsets the future gains - so you are not recouping as much as you might like to believe (or are perhaps being led to believe) that you are.

Why? I mean why a dimmer? Even with incandescents, you're taking an already inefficient technology and making it even more inefficient.

Because it's a cooking and dining area and I want a variable control to be able to regulate the level of lighting, as desired.

Landline phone was $32/month when I dropped it. Pay-as-you-go cell is $7/month. Haven't noticed any difference in reliability myself.

I did the same. The reliability of my current wireless home phone system is about 95% of what my land line was. I find that acceptable. However, when someone calls me and they are on a cell phone, sometimes their signal breaks up. Then I need to say repeatedly "repeat what you said, your cell is breaking up." It's annoying.

[Philscar]

Incandescent light bulbs were designed to fail after x number of hours.See the package.
The glue used to seal the bulb dries at a known rate then cracks and lets air in to destroy the filament.
Florescent bulbs are now produced to do the same.
L.E.D. bulbs will probably go the same route when they figure out how to engineer the life of the bulb.
This is designed obsolescence and it is legal?

Phil

[XYZ]

Originally Posted by Philscar

Incandescent light bulbs were designed to fail after x number of hours.See the package.
The glue used to seal the bulb dries at a known rate then cracks and lets air in to destroy the filament.
Florescent bulbs are now produced to do the same.
L.E.D. bulbs will probably go the same route when they figure out how to engineer the life of the bulb.
This is designed obsolescence and it is legal?

Phil

Everything wears out or dies, eventually. Nothing lasts forever - including all of us who are living, as we too will die, someday. But you can sell more products by obsoleting whatever has been in use the longest, and government can hasten the process along by restricting production or prohibiting whatever product they wish to curtail or eliminate, at their will. That power is virtually unlimited.

It's not just "legal". The "new" bulbs have been legally mandated to replace the older ones.

Translation (not that it's needed): Now you no longer have any choice. Your ability to decide and choose what bulbs you might want to buy has been taken away. That action was taken to benefit someone other than you. It was supposedly done to benefit society, for the good of us all...

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Philscar

Incandescent light bulbs were designed to fail after x number of hours.See the package.
The glue used to seal the bulb dries at a known rate then cracks and lets air in to destroy the filament.

Not so. I have a number of incandescent bulbs (in places like closets, where replacing them wouldn't be cost-effective). They were here when I bought this place 15 years ago, and who knows how long before that.

Florescent bulbs are now produced to do the same.

Can't speak for current production, as I've not had to buy new CFLs in maybe 5 years. However, I do have several that date back to maybe the early '90s (before the twisty shape became standard), which have been used pretty much every night, and are still going strong.

I almost wish a few would fail, so I'd have an excuse to replace them with LEDs.