Actually, Thomas Edison invented a better incandescent light bulb a long time ago. I remember when I visited his lab as a kid they had original light bulbs still burning 75+ years on. I think he just realized that if the light bulb never burned out, you could only sell one set to each customer, so he included “planned obsolescence” in his product.
Actually, Thomas Edison invented a better incandescent light bulb a long time ago. I remember when I visited his lab as a kid they had original light bulbs still burning 75+ years on. I think he just realized that if the light bulb never burned out, you could only sell one set to each customer, so he included “planned obsolescence” in his product.
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I don’t know what you were told but the above is simply not true, it is true that some of the bulbs his company made are still burning in his labs but they are running on a greatly reduced voltage, they produce very little light, only s slight glow.
The money making part of Edison’s light bulb was to sell electricity. He reasoned if he sold the light bulb cheaply enough everyone would buy it and then buy electricity every month to run it.
Thomas believed in the opposite of planned obsolescence, he tirelessly tested all his commercial products to get the most life he could from them. Many of his products had competitors and one of his selling points were always the extended life of the “Edison” products.
If you take a european light bulb, which runs at a higher voltage (220v I think), and plug it into standard US 120v power, it will pretty much last forever. They've known how to make longer lasting bulbs all along, but had no incentive to do so.
If you never turn it off,an incandescent bulb will last indefinitely. The filament degrades with every on-off cycle, but constant use reduces the wear dramatically. Thus is true of most electric devices.