"Lighting really needs to move into the space age. The incandescents are little more advanced than open fires."
The next big thing - actually taking LED's into the space age - will be quantum dot LED lighting.
http://www.livescience.com/technology/051021_nano_light.html
http://www.evidenttech.com/applications/quantum-dot-led-electroluminescence.php
The problem with current LED's is the design of the LED's themselves. It's difficult to replicate a standard light bulb throw for everyday household and office applications. And the output has been lacking. If they can get quantum dot LED lighting to work and be practical, it will not only make LED lighting practical for every day use, it will open up different lighting possibilities most people haven't even thought of.
I don't think we have to look that far ahead for state-of-the-art lighting solutions. I see a lot of stuff that works very well but just hasn't gotten popular because Consumer Reports will write reports that say it doesn't make a difference -- like they do with the ion technology for air cleaning filters. So there's a lot of confusion and skeptism.
I think low-end fluorescents give high-end, high-tech fluorescents a bad name -- and agree they can actually cause health problems because one is tricked into believing he is operating in a lighted environment when the reality is the intensity of the light is like living in perennial darkness -- without realizing it, just as one would in a cave, ruining eyes and health.
But the proper quality and intensity of light will boost many peoples' health to a greater extent than they would suspect possible -- because the greatest stimulation of the brain, is just light itself.