Have you every wondered why your printer doesn't last long?  Or why all the light bulbs in your house break at the same time?  Or why it's so difficult to get things repaired?  Or why there are always new models of things every year?

Well, there are a couple of reasons - and one of them is planned obsolescence.  Find out what this is by coming to the screening of The Light Bulb Conspiracy on Friday, 02 Dec, at Santola Bar.  More details are given below.

This movie was screened recently in KK as part of the Science Film Festival (which takes place throughout SE Asia) and is very interesting.

*NOTE 1*
Each participant will get one signature drink of the night and tidbits!!!

*NOTE 2*
Dear guests, in order to facilitate the arrangements of drinks and tidbits, RSVP your attendance and kindly make sure you are at the screening venue on time (7:30pm). Thank you very much for your assured confirmation.

If for any reason you can't make it, kindly email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or sms to +60.13.8650688

BLURB

Did you know that the lifetime of light bulbs once used to last for more than 2500 hours and was reduced – on purpose – to just 1000 hours? Did you know that nylon stockings once used to be that stable that you could even use them as tow rope for cars and its quality was reduced just to make sure that you will soon need a new one? Did you know that you might have a tiny little chip inside your printer that was just placed there so that your device will “break” after a predefined number of printed pages thereby assuring that you buy a new one? Did you know that Apple originally did not intend to offer any battery exchange service for their iPods/iPhones/iPads just to enable you to continuously contribute to the growth of this corporation?

This strategy was maybe first thought through already in the 19th century and later on for example motivated by Bernhard London in 1932 in his paper “Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence”. The intentional design and manufacturing of products with a limited lifespan to assure repeated purchases is denoted as “planned/programmed obsolescence” and we are all or at least most of us upright and thoroughly participating in this doubtful endeavor. Or did you not recently think about buying a new mobile phone / computer / car / clothes / … because your old one unexpectedly died or just because of this very cool new feature that you oh so badly need?

A really well done documentary that provides a comprehensive overview about and a detailed insight into this topic recently aired on Arte and other European television networks. It is entitled “The Light Bulb Conspiracy – The untold story of planned obsolescence”

The light bulb conspiracy is a theory that the leading manufacturers of incandescent light bulbs have conspired to keep the lifetime of their bulbs far below their real technological capabilities. This way, they ensure the continuous demand for more bulbs and hence, long-term profit for themselves.

Regards,