# article: Americans wistful for incandescent Christmas lights



## Paul_in_Maryland (Dec 22, 2009)

From Associated Press:
Many take dim view of new-fangled Christmas lights


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## blasterman (Dec 22, 2009)

So, some newspaper reporter (likely a paycheck away from the unemployment line or writing for Faux news - take your pick) finds a guy who prefers stepping on broken glass (defined as nostalgia) over more energy efficient bulbs, and it's defined as 'many'. 

Where do I start.......oh yeah, I haven't subscribed to a newspaper in 20 years because of silly junk like this.

Let's have a fireman respond as to their preference for bulb types. I'm sure some americans, likely the same number who enjoy stepping on broken glass, prefer the spectacle of a burning house at xmas and people running for their lives.


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## jtr1962 (Dec 22, 2009)

My favorite line:

_While acknowledging LEDs are more durable and use up to one-hundredth the amount of electricity as incandescents, Gary Barksdale grows nostalgic sorting through broken bulbs and overloaded fuses every year. "It's part of the holiday tradition," said Barksdale, 46, of Norman, Okla._

Funny how the very reason I stopped putting lights outside for a while was precisely the time consuming ritual of finding burned out bulbs. After about 10 years I just had enough of it. I didn't start again until LED lights came along. True that I've had a few failed LEDs every year now, but it's something like half a dozen out of ~2000 lights, and just about all of them are from strings which lack good waterproofing. A little clear silicon rubber where the bulb meets the socket, and my failure rate should drop to just about zero. The incandescent strings on the other hand generally had around 10% of the lamps fail every single year.

Let's see-more vivid colors, much longer life, 90% or greater energy savings, unbreakable, and a choice of shades of white ( not just the dim orange which passes for white on incandescent strings ). What's not to like?

I don't get nostalgia or the current trend for retro everything. It's one thing when people long for things which were actually superior in some way in the past. That I can get behind. But when people want things to be a certain way forever, even when things which are better in every way come along? Heck, why not get around by horse and buggy while we're at it. Or use candles instead of those newfangled incandescents to decorate our trees? As a good friend of my long-deceased grandfather used to say-the good old days weren't. Coming from the mouth of one who lived through them, I believe him. I say the same thing now to anyone who longs for the 60s or the 70s. Been there, done that, we're better off in most ways now compared to then. I know I'd never want to go back.


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## Dave_H (Dec 22, 2009)

Noma (in Canada) intro'ed a new product, lights with
transluscent pastel shades for the "retro" look. I've seen
them, don't like them due to uneven brightness and
other reasons not the least of which is premium price.
Probably costs no more to produce than any other LED
lights. Lots of money can be milked from people for
nostalgia.

Dave


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## Paul_in_Maryland (Dec 22, 2009)

Dave_H said:


> Noma (in Canada) intro'ed a new product, lights with
> transluscent pastel shades for the "retro" look. I've seen
> them, don't like them due to uneven brightness and
> other reasons not the least of which is premium price.
> ...


This is an example of what futurist Alvin Toffler meant by his chapter title, "High Tech, High Touch": The more high-tech we become, the more we look for ways to feel comforted by the softer side. Some fairly high-tech cameras are available in pastels.


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## fyrstormer (Dec 22, 2009)

Bullshit. I'm replacing my incans with CFLs and LEDs as fast as I possibly can and I'm not looking back.

Have you ever seen blue and green incan lights? They look terrible compared to LEDs.


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## was.lost.but.now.found (Dec 22, 2009)

Seattle Times said:


> Despite their passionate fan club, incandescent lovers are a dying bunch.


 
Don't anyone show this to LuxLuthor.


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## EricB (Dec 24, 2009)

Dave_H said:


> Noma (in Canada) intro'ed a new product, lights with
> transluscent pastel shades for the "retro" look. I've seen
> them, don't like them due to uneven brightness and
> other reasons not the least of which is premium price.
> ...


I recently saw wreaths with what looked like pale red and green incandescents mixed with obvious cool white LED's.
Upon closer look, the reds and greens were actually also white LED's, but with the classic painted glass envelope. They were even the identical shape (2.5v), with the little round tip point. (And the whites were encased in this too). 

So if that guy wants broken glass, he should look for those. And the added benefit will be that the bulb will continue to work even if the glass is broken!

The painted glass is even more pale with the cool white. 
They should use soft white (2700K), which is now really starting to hit the shelves, and appear in decorations more. I think I even conviced a lady last night to get the new Philips raspberry shaped soft whites. She had been looking at incandescent raspberry faceted bulbs, and worrying about them getting too hot. I was testing the Philips dome version, and saw that they were 2700, and then showed her that the raspberry version looked nearly identical to what she was testing, and she did appear to take them! I would have gotten the domes if there was more time to display them.

I was there looking for battery powered LED bulbs for a little tabletop tree, but they didn't have any. I ended up getting the Target brand 10 light battery powered incandescent, which uses 2 *D*'s, in contrast to the LED's using A's. These are the inly incandescents I have ever owned since childhood. Next year, I'll replace them with the 5 color LED, and give them to someone else. Our other tabletop tree has the old four color (ROYG) square LED string I got 8 years ago from K-Mart; my first LED string.

Most strings I see say that they will stay on if one bulb is out. Isn't that based on it being wired in parallel rather than series?

I took advantage of Macy's staying open 24 hours, and went to the flagship store around 3AM. They now have warm white LED's in the decorations on the Herald Sq. side on the first floor, though not on the 7th Av. side (Men's Dept.) They did have a lot of LED spotlights (also warm white) scattered through the store. They were pretty bright, just like the halogens and CF's.

The nicest thing was the big tree they have above an old sealed up entrance on 34th St. It is entirely RGB's (slow cycling, too), with blinking whites scattered through.
It is the first big RGB lit tree I have ever seen. Meanwhile, the Rockefeller tree is more greenish this year. The similar Long Island tree also went with the same kind of six color faceted C6, except the white is cool rather than warm.

In my search to expand my RGB window collection, there was still no luck, as nothing controllable came out. I then planned to expand what I already have, and get a DingDotz Brain Cell, but then found out they would have to program it, and I could not change it afterward. (And now I find that since it is a Demo Kit, I can't even expand it). 
So it looks like the only alternative after all is an expensive DMX with a new RGB string. Hope these guys will market their products:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5qR9_8KGPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvMVIkPQHM&feature=related


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