The Light Bulb Conspiracy (2010)

Published 2010 (IMDB Rating 8.1) This is the story of companies […]

Post Author:

Climate State

Date Posted:

March 10, 2014

Published 2010 (IMDB Rating 8.1)

This is the story of companies who engineered their products to fail. This film criticizes the way manufacturers deliberately make short lasting products that continually have to be re-bought, increasing their profit.

Related

About the Author: Climate State

Profile photo ofadmin
Climate State covers the broad spectrum of climate change, and the solutions, since around 2011 with the focus on the sciences. Views expressed on this site or on social media are not necessarily the views by Climate State – we endorse data, facts, empirical evidence.

74 Comments

  1. martijn monster October 2, 2013 at 2:10 pm - Reply

    It’s a shame most people do not have interest in understanding the ways the
    system works and how it forces us to accept ridiculous behavior as normal.
    great documentary! I’ll share it :)

  2. RichardPhist100 October 4, 2013 at 7:04 pm - Reply

    Hello

  3. Eau Rouge October 5, 2013 at 8:21 pm - Reply

    Thanks for sharing mate¡¡

  4. Mikael Hedin October 9, 2013 at 2:18 am - Reply

    This youtube program is no more aloud and taken away in the “free” Sweden “

  5. shesnailie . October 10, 2013 at 8:44 am - Reply

    Of course, now that everything is churned out by the People’s Lead & Puppy
    Grindery, Western Civilization no longer really benefits so much from
    planned obsolescence…

  6. shesnailie . October 10, 2013 at 8:57 am - Reply

    @36:47 …what the fukushima!

  7. Alex D October 18, 2013 at 8:36 am - Reply

    Start looking to Wall-E if you want to know what the future will be like.

  8. Mike Roberts October 18, 2013 at 11:45 am - Reply

    Funkyw4, The oldest light bulb has been burning since 1901, the light bulb
    industry will be fine. The point of this documentary is to provide some
    evidence and facts that our system is completely and utterly FLAWED and
    cannot continue on the path that it is on currently.

  9. Alvin Jorge October 18, 2013 at 3:54 pm - Reply

    I can clearly agree with you on that.

  10. Leon-ardo Ojo de Oro October 19, 2013 at 8:57 pm - Reply

    what is the adress of the russian site?

  11. Hamza B October 24, 2013 at 12:52 pm - Reply

    Thank you for this ill be sure to share it

  12. Nico Ene October 26, 2013 at 3:44 am - Reply

    My stove and fridge are more than 20 years old and they work perfectly.I
    have new models as well, but they always break.

  13. Nico Ene October 26, 2013 at 3:44 am - Reply

    My stove and fridge are more than 20 years old and they work perfectly.I
    have new models as well, but they always break.

  14. I am October 26, 2013 at 4:51 am - Reply

    It blows my mind how little people wanna take interest in such
    things……. Not that I’m sayin’ midgets shouldn’t. It’s just weird.

  15. inervin October 26, 2013 at 9:57 pm - Reply

    Just never forget – all talk about sustainability is come from Agenda 21,
    facsistoid concept created by the same greedy people to cover their real
    goals, total control and absolute power.

  16. BeatrixNuada October 28, 2013 at 7:38 pm - Reply

    I am a future economist and I wish we all could have longer lasting and
    fully recyclable products. I see why it is no wonder people do not import
    cheap efficient green energy solutions. Because it requires massive
    reconstruction, it is a game changer for which big companies are not
    willing to risk with. It makes all markets less dynamically inert. But it
    gives population stability and reliability to counter for a great
    depression and starvation. Even capitalists don’t have real interests in
    this

  17. Annan Fay October 29, 2013 at 12:23 am - Reply

    “You see, without planned obsolescence these places wouldn’t exist. There
    wouldn’t be any products. There wouldn’t be any industry. There wouldn’t be
    any designers. […] All the jobs would go.” Instead of letting go half
    your staff. Why not reduce work hours by half? Give everyone two or three
    day work weeks. People get less money because they are only working 2-3
    days a week. However, would also spend less money on replacements. People
    would have more time to enjoy living.

  18. fleamarketmutt October 30, 2013 at 10:55 pm - Reply

    They recited “the pledge of alliance” to a American conspiracy against
    consumers

  19. Eldar Babakov November 1, 2013 at 7:08 pm - Reply

    36:43 Ironically enough , the battery of the photo camera is also almost
    dead

  20. eric5335 November 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm - Reply

    What, really?!

  21. FernestHall November 5, 2013 at 12:07 am - Reply

    I think your tinfoil hat is some seizes to small. Don’t wear those which
    squeeze your brain.

  22. Corinne Chew November 5, 2013 at 5:37 pm - Reply

    Cartels – setting a standard of obsolescence

  23. gabriel zaldivar November 10, 2013 at 10:04 pm - Reply

    Watch this and think of all the products you have purchased since your
    ability to go to the store.

  24. Matt Heilman November 17, 2013 at 8:00 pm - Reply

    I judge a Company/ Product, by how well it performs its function and how
    long it can preform that function.
    As for planned “Planned Obsolescence”: I see it more as failure due to low
    cost production.

  25. Hiran Karandeniya November 24, 2013 at 8:03 am - Reply

    A must watch…

  26. David Andersen December 1, 2013 at 7:00 am - Reply

    It’s scarier to think of the market that can maintain a “planned
    obsolescence”. It would obviously be in the best interest of an upcoming
    entrepreneur to make a product “better” but can’t; because somehow the
    “free market” is in favor of those making the money and not buying the
    product.

  27. Abdou December 19, 2013 at 6:57 am - Reply

    39:04 – those CRTs last for ever, but we been brain washed to buy flat
    panels, that are designed to fail promptly.

  28. Brian Hamilton December 27, 2013 at 3:26 am - Reply

    This is an informative, thought provoking program. Don’t mind the Norwegian
    sub-titles.

  29. Paul thecat December 27, 2013 at 4:48 pm - Reply

    A nice bit of propaganda mostly, this is on a par with ‘Ralph Nader unsafe
    at any speed’ Who are this so called ‘cartel’ surely another business man
    would come in and offer a better product if they could. Most of this has to
    do with politicians and bureaucrats defining standards, rather than
    allowing the market to operate. All these so called environmental energy
    bulbs have arisen from government mandates not the market. For instance
    look at low level regulated markets such as the mobile phone- original cost
    in 1950’s $5000 size of a brick with no battery life, today you can run
    your life off one for a fraction of the cost, similarly a Bluetooth dongle
    original costs $300 in the 1990s today less than $4 ( and that’s not
    including inflation !!!!). Heavily regulated markets such as cars always
    increase in value, since bureaucrats and politicians interfere determining
    how much safety should be in there and how things should be tested. It is
    politicians and bureaucrats messing up the market, with which standards
    things should be held to.

  30. Stephen Dickens December 27, 2013 at 7:29 pm - Reply

    I think the real truth that some may have overlooked goes like this. Things
    are made to break, thats what keeps the money flowing, sad but true, and no
    I dont agree with that plan,,but that is how its all made and planned. For
    example any electronic device could be made to last way longer. Usually
    when lets say for example your TV croaks. Its one component that has gone
    bad or failed in it. But a circuit board can be made with several back ups.
    Meaning if one transistor failed, there could be three others wired into
    the board, with a microchip that would just switch it all over to use the
    second transistor if the first failed. And any number of backups could be
    added. But its not made that way, its made so when that one component fails
    in your TV or other device, you simply throw it away and buy another, and
    of course litter the world more. And it is rumored that if not already so,
    some day a program may be placed in a microchip to force your electronic
    device to fail after a certain time, like a timer. And you would either
    throw it away, or have the repair man reset the circuit to restart the
    timer all over again.

  31. Nayr747 January 1, 2014 at 3:21 am - Reply

    Marcos’ should have just bought a laser printer. Inkjets suck down one of
    the most expensive liquids in the world even if it’s just sitting there not
    printing anything. Laser toner cartridges can last years and it’s a
    fraction of the price per page.

  32. Jeff Colard January 10, 2014 at 5:38 pm - Reply

    I have been in the motorsports industry all my life and Ran a smog
    shop!Even in California with its clean air laws.Logic and reasoning would
    dictate that a car that consumes a volume of air 5 times more than the next
    would be undesirable! they only ask us to check the emissions of the gases
    based on parts per millon not volume So a small car with a motor
    of 1 liter produces and imits 1/5 the volume of a car with a 5 liter! the 5
    liter gar burns 5 times the oxygen out of the atmosphere While today all
    the car are clean burning,we still do not get it ,that Oxygen levels fall
    as we go up in the atmosphere and we are consuming the very elements that
    produce it! Knowledge does not equal power unless we use it with logic
    ,reasoning,and wisdom

  33. Coty Riddle January 10, 2014 at 7:22 pm - Reply

    haha most parts in my computer are reused

  34. fywacia January 25, 2014 at 10:41 pm - Reply

    Are there any asshole professional skeptics and wannabe asshole skeptics
    who would like to debate me over the fact that rich people conspire to get
    richer? Some of you assholes even believe that the auto makers do not make
    cars that consume fuel at the rate that the oil companies want. Some of you
    are even stupid enough to think that the government has nothing to do with
    aiding these corporate thieves. So please step right up and challenge me
    with your bullshit skeptic crap, I’m waiting….

  35. Buzz Werd January 26, 2014 at 4:32 am - Reply

    How many people use electric every day? How many companies and signs and
    headlights? How much light and images?
    If everything uses many times the electricity needed, where does the
    electricity come from?
    Most of it comes from burning carbon. And the number of users and uses is
    billions even as the rate of use outstrips the ability to find and get more
    carbon since over 40 years ago and we have a very real problem with burning
    too much carbon.

    Sometimes you have to make a choice for efficiency when the alternative is
    lights OUT decades sooner if you don’t. We can’t go back by simply wishing
    or voting so.

    Read Consumer Reports before you buy an item or at least see what things
    you can buy refurbished since those items are repairable! The originals
    cost MORE and there is the rub, people buy cheap and quality is made less
    and less often because it is squeezed out, what sells shapes what gets made.

    Buy cheap crap, get cheap crap. Eat fast food while you’re at it then
    complain about that.

  36. TheOneTrueKaliban January 27, 2014 at 7:45 am - Reply

    So Londons’ idea was to fix an economic problem that was created by
    government tinkering by having the government tinker with it. :-/

    No WONDER he whispered about it.

  37. Robert Fisher January 27, 2014 at 9:48 am - Reply

    41 dayz. vs the one from 1901 = over 100 years. lol FUCK YOU

  38. DJtrainman261 January 28, 2014 at 9:21 am - Reply

    I’m ten minutes in, and things are already not adding up.
    1. Light bulbs are supposedly forcibly kept to last no longer than 1000
    years. So what happened to compact fluorescent bulbs, and never mind LEDs,
    which practically last forever? And yes, LEDs are slowly getting into the
    home lighting business.
    2. They keep on talking about how things are made to break, and how
    supposedly every company is in some cartel to ensure that. However, I’ve
    seen quite a few things that pretty much defy that. For example, I’ve seen
    phones that are at least 10 years old, and working fine – I even used one
    for a half a year recently. I also have a computer that must be about 12
    years old sitting in my room – it might be a little slower than it was
    originally, but a simple Windows reinstall would fix that. And no, that’s
    not planned obsolescence, because you have every right to reinstall an OS
    on your computer without paying extra.
    3. Marketing something that lasts longer is simple, and it’s been done many
    times before. All I can say is look at the compact fluorescent bulb – it is
    being purchased more and more than “standard” light bulbs. Sure, there are
    often trends to buy things that don’t last as long, the computer industry
    comes to mind now, creating super slim laptops where you can’t even replace
    the battery of all things – however, that’s specifically because people are
    looking for more lighter and especially slimmer computers, which are hard
    to make if you have to account for swapping parts. Not to mention, many
    computers are still being sold that have exchangeable parts.

  39. Bryan Lightningrod January 29, 2014 at 4:13 pm - Reply

    dude inkjet printers are just basically stupid anyways, there shouldn’t be
    any reason to print anything out really, if so send it to a print shop who
    uses things besides inkjet printers and can print out quality. Also, people
    would sue the print company if the printer did get ink all over the place
    or just basically think it was a crappy printer. Talk about the complete
    waste of money the injet cartridges are, they cost more than the entire
    printer a lot of times. Also things like computers should be obsoleted
    because would you like to be working on a mac or pc from the 80’s? I doubt
    it. A lightbulb from 1900 sux compared to a led bulb today. The things
    that should be got rid of are cars and airplanes because the fuel they use
    and the death they cause.

  40. BankaiIchigo12345 January 31, 2014 at 12:11 am - Reply

    Can’t understand half of it because it’s in some foreign language.

  41. jeanious2009 January 31, 2014 at 2:58 pm - Reply

    It was designed to FAIL.=-= STILL GOING ON TODAY. with everything.

  42. jeanious2009 January 31, 2014 at 2:59 pm - Reply

    its all because of GREED, without it there would be no need for a 1000hr
    light bulb…but for a LIFE LONG bulb. This goes for other electronics and
    items.

  43. Reptilian January 31, 2014 at 8:40 pm - Reply

    I wonder why didn’t competition rule out the need for planned obsolesce? I
    mean, didn’t companies back then always claim their stuff lasted the
    longest and worked better than the competitor’s products? Why would a
    crisis arise from that problem? Now I realize that companies even if they
    don’t really have to. I mean, what kind of dumb company would invest time
    and money spending on materials to built a lasting product when they can
    hire chinese child laborers and use the cheapest crap available and just
    say that new products that they make are simply better, even though they’re
    the same shit.

  44. Robert Gift February 4, 2014 at 12:40 am - Reply

    The fire station filament is obviously undervoltaged. Will last far longer
    than if brighter at its designed voltage. Is very inefficient when
    undervoltaged.
    Calculate how much money it co$t to operate.

  45. eamh2002 February 6, 2014 at 5:52 pm - Reply

    some months ago I measured a lightbulb power draw, it was 20watts although
    the bulb was 40watts. The bulb was brighter than a “power saving” lamp with
    11w (claimed equal to 60w bulb). It was about 3times brighter than the
    11watt energy saver with only 2times the power.

    So WTF? Lightbulbs with equal measured watts actually outperform “energy
    saving” crap.

  46. DoodiePunk February 9, 2014 at 3:48 am - Reply

    Russian propaganda: They exploit the weakness of capitalism and flatter
    communism, but hey, they didn’t mention how people have been living under
    communism. It’s OK to learn from others’ experiences, but this documentary
    is way too flattery to tyranny. There’s definitely an error with the
    economy and it needs to be upgraded, but not by communism.

  47. Steve Chering February 11, 2014 at 8:16 am - Reply

    Fascinating documentary a wake up call to all!

  48. Steve Chering February 11, 2014 at 8:23 am - Reply

    And all the LED bulbs in UK are priced at an almost out of reach sum..for those wanting to cut back on power consumption..and most of the bulbs in IKEA are of screw in fitting and UK are all bayonet types.. so you have to then change all the fittings in the house.so in effect..you have to spend more cash to save…..LESS! outrageous for a so called Green economy? The massive swindle continues.!

  49. Man Fung Wong February 11, 2014 at 10:19 am - Reply

    Just found out my hp laptop default cooling kicks in when 60C is reach, no
    wonder my laptop overheats! Download a modded BIOS, simply adjust the
    temperature to 50C solved my overheat issue.

  50. Vente Interdite February 12, 2014 at 7:48 pm - Reply

    The World is big enough to satisfy everyone’s needs, but will always be too
    small to satisfy individual greed. Mahatma Ghandi.

  51. TheoO18 February 18, 2014 at 8:17 am - Reply

    This is completely true! My printer also blocked itself (because of that
    chip) but then I found a hack on it online and made it work again ;)) .

  52. sixtyfiveford February 22, 2014 at 7:34 am - Reply

    Great Video.

  53. zikweed98 February 23, 2014 at 3:44 pm - Reply

    An ipod battery cant be replaced because it is locked inside the ipod. The
    back does not come off.

  54. eric foster February 25, 2014 at 4:13 am - Reply

    The business model they don’t bring up is that there are many people (a
    market) who could buy the IPod for $200 even if it was older or
    refurbished. Why not have companies that repair goods to sell to them?
    And why didn’t Ghana collect similar computers, monitors, etc and salvage
    them? That is collect the good parts and repair one out of 3 bad ones?
    Although I do feel for the destruction of their environment. But this is
    the “envirionmentalist” thinking that only recycling not reusing is good
    for the environment.

  55. Marcin Gramza February 25, 2014 at 12:30 pm - Reply

    *Planned obsolescence*
    Interesting movie about one of the pillars of our economy. Critical about
    the concept of planned obsolescence, but is there an alternative for it
    without radical change of our mentality and culture? I don’t know.

  56. Jon Courtney February 26, 2014 at 3:41 am - Reply

    thank you for helping to awaken people! i am sharing your video

  57. Jon Courtney February 26, 2014 at 3:45 am - Reply

    planned obsolescence ! how corporations are taking advantage of you from
    day one. It’s time to stop letting corporations force you into buying
    garbage. They can build things that last, but instead they don’t and then
    when they go bankrupt the corporation sponsored government steps in and
    gives them YOUR money to keep the lie alive.

  58. Jon Courtney February 26, 2014 at 3:49 am - Reply

    It’s time for people to stop supporting corporations that use planned
    obsolescence to force you to buy things over and over again when they could
    last for much longer. Light bulbs are just a tiny drop in the pool of
    corrupt corporations that buy politicians so they can continue to make
    garbage and get bailed out when people stop buying their garbage that is
    planned to fail after a certain amount of time. It’s wasteful, and it makes
    people poorer. Computer manufactures especially Apple is guilty of this.
    With their continuous update and upgrade bs. They could make a phone that
    could have one standard architecture and just change cpu / gpu. We all
    should demand more from our fellow humans.

  59. Jon Courtney February 26, 2014 at 5:40 am - Reply

    it absolutely is unsustainable.. we have a finite amount of resources and they are being used incorrectly.. we have plastics that last for 20,000 years and they go into making a bottle of water that is used and discarded… put that in a house! use it on cars.. so stupid that they waste so much of our resources and we have no alternative.. you either buy something new or fix what you have.. but there are nothing but monopolies so you have no choices in getting a good product

  60. Chris Hedges February 26, 2014 at 1:08 pm - Reply

    planned obsolescence ! how corporations are taking advantage of you from
    day one. It’s time to stop letting corporations force you into buying
    garbage. They can build things that last, but instead they don’t and then
    when they go bankrupt the corporation sponsored government steps in and
    gives them YOUR money to keep the lie alive.

  61. JVIPER88 February 26, 2014 at 6:23 pm - Reply

    All of this talk about light and light bulbs is nonsense.

    Everyone knows that light comes for your eyes. (Emission Theory). We have
    no need for light bulbs at all. They don’t produce the light… we do.

    Also, the earth is flat, the moon is a hologram, and I have a pet
    triceratops. His name is Mumbles.

  62. Michael Olsen February 26, 2014 at 11:57 pm - Reply

    This is a story everyone needs to hear, think about and discuss with their families and neighbors.

  63. bababooey7576 February 27, 2014 at 3:42 am - Reply

    such bullshit we are fed on a daily basis. my father’s McClary fridge is
    still going strong in his basement. He got it when i was first born just
    over 38 years ago. the fridge is from the late 1950’s. it has outlasted
    every appliance bought when they moved in in 1973.. im sure its days are
    numbered since mom wants to get rid of it. my washing machine was here
    when we got the house just over 15 years ago…the only issue we’ve had
    with it was a minor water leak a few years agowhich cost me nothing to
    repair.. ive dated it back to about 1972. built like a brick shithouse

  64. bababooey7576 February 27, 2014 at 3:45 am - Reply

    designed to fail….and we have repairmen driving around using fossil fuels, constant re upping of goods on shelves that are disposable. factories making parts. u sing materials, causing pollution. plastic plastic plastic.. etc etc y up..environmentally friendly indeed…

  65. Jonathan Myers March 6, 2014 at 6:51 pm - Reply

    I’m quite happy with my 1973 John Deere lawn tractor thank you ;)

  66. mjdan10 March 8, 2014 at 7:20 pm - Reply

    An interesting video that shows the evils of crony capitalism and the regulations that are designed to stifle innovation and competition. This video suggest that this is a symptom of the failure of capitalism, when in fact these are the symptoms of corruption due to lazy, self-interested, envious entities that fear competition. The worst part of this video is the suggestion that Marxism and communism are the answers. Freedom is the answer! Read Ayn Rand for a real alternative to crony capitalism and to see a paradigm that promotes individual happiness that translate to shared
    wealth that is not compulsory.

  67. robert karas March 11, 2014 at 10:39 am - Reply

    Didnt everyone already figure this out? like are you kidding? isnt it obvious that a car breaks so fast? god society must be fucking stupid, let them consume products and kill this world if they cant realize stuff like this

  68. jules2c March 13, 2014 at 11:27 pm - Reply

    Yes and no, this is an over simplification, the long lasting incandescent light had an even more horrendous power wastage than the 1000 hour bulb.

  69. Thomas n March 15, 2014 at 1:05 am - Reply

    who is the person who talks during the documentary

  70. LINEHACKER March 19, 2014 at 4:49 am - Reply

    DUH!

  71. Johhny Stoka March 22, 2014 at 1:56 am - Reply

    Osram was owned by Leopold Koppel a jew

  72. PICing4fun March 22, 2014 at 12:41 pm - Reply

    I enjoyed this video though there were a few issues that were not really
    dealt with. Sometimes there is a good reason for replacing that old piece
    of technology and in many cases it’s all about being productive. An old
    computer that processes information 10X slower than the current model
    becomes a waste of time to keep. Unless one feels that his time has no
    value. A 1980s car that may run perfectly fine but consumes 3X the fuel of
    a modern car not only is killing our planet with pollutants but is
    consuming a limited supply of fossil fuel three times faster than a modern
    replacement. Though I agree with the ideas in this video and I am not a big
    fan of consumerism, I do see the need to update certain items in our
    society with the goal of efficiency on as many levels as possible. Now
    trying to decide exactly when to upgrade my car, computer, and gadgets is
    the tricky part.

  73. jkjerome1 March 22, 2014 at 5:58 pm - Reply

    this explains so much about our experience of modern life – why we have to keep making money to replace all these things that keep breaking.

  74. robert yeahright March 25, 2014 at 12:53 am - Reply

    greed and deception is whats destroying this world and you can thank the
    elite for this, and it’s those same elite assholes that will profit from
    the cleanup of all this.
    You can tell who they are, because they use the word sustainability a lot.
    sustainability is key phrase for Agenda 21, and you should know that the
    same assholes that created agenda 21 also say that this planet cannot
    sustain more than 1.5 billion people and they plan on being part of that
    1.5 billion.

See also  Megatrends to Beat Global Warming

Leave a Reply

Tags: , (2023)
Categories: 2010, Documentary, Energy, Films(2023)
Views: 173(2023)
post contents

The Climate State Newsletter