In park number 6 in Livermore, in California (United States), a small light bulb hangs that defies practically all laws, known as Centennial Lightor centenary bulb due to its translation into Spanish.
Since its installation in 1901, this impassive light bulb has even seen the death of 3 video surveillance cameras that recorded and broadcast all its live shows, since on its website you can see that it is still working.
To get an idea of the longevity of this bulb, we must take into account that In 2015, one million active hours were celebratedsince except for changes in location, it has remained there without suffering the passage of time.
Unfortunately, this century-old light bulb has been an exception in more recent history, due to the so-called Phoebus Cartel, made up of the main manufacturers of the moment, Osram, Philips and General Electric.
Before Christmas 1924, these companies agreed to reduce the useful life of light bulbs to 1,000 hours, with the aim that sales would not fall in the short and medium term, a technique that was maintained at least until 1939.
This is the first recognized and investigated case of planned obsolescence, artificially modifying the market to create more demand, of course, at the expense of consumers.
Why today’s light bulbs don’t last as long
Before the year in which the Phoebus Cartel was set up, the light bulbs could double the capacity to which they were limited upon their creation, in total, with approximately 2,500 hours of useful life.
The justification for this collusive oligopoly was clear: a bulb with a longer lifespan was not more efficient; On the contrary, more heat than light was usually produced, something fatal for the light bulb.
Although at that time it may have sounded like a hypothesis that justifies reducing the useful life of light bulbs, the truth is that it was partially false, due to the way the devices worked at that time.
In short, it is true that the century-old light bulb – manufactured with a carbon filament by the Shelby Electric Company already at the end of the 19th century – produces more heat than light, but that does not mean a shorter lifespan.
In the specific case of current LED bulbs, they are made with a diode capable of supporting approximately about 50,000 hours of usea quantitative leap, but one that can still improve.
This is because manufacturers usually use cheaper materials or, directly, the quantity of some of these is reduced to lower costs; and in technology, something cheaper usually has a much shorter lifespan.
And additionally, some lifespan is sacrificed for better lighting, rather than heat, so it makes a little more sense today, at least with this type of newer technology.
Be that as it may, and even with reinforcement lights, the Livermore bulb continues to endure the passage of years in a heroic way, being the envy of current bulbs, with a much shorter useful life.