TechConnectify

TechConnectify , vor 16 Tagen an Random Englisch

So I just got back from a Menards run and I've noticed something fascinating:

Menards has always had a lot of store brands. But they're really pushing a new food brand called Marcella. Stuff like coffee, jams and jellies, prepared foods, sodas, etc. A lot of it is fairly unique - I bought a maraschino cherry cola on a whim and it was pretty great!

The weird part? They're pricing this in-house stuff higher than name brands. The soda was a tad more expensive than the Sprecher's next to it!

TechConnectify OP , vor 16 Tagen

This is a very Menards thing to do. They're... crafty.

They've got so many weird but well-presented brands that you're not going to know are theirs unless you look closely and find "distributed by Menard inc" on there somewhere. It's almost impressive!

And I mean... so long as it's actually good (we'll see what that apple pie jam is like later) I suppose why not? But it's very weird and very Menards.

(added pictures for reference)

the_other_jon , vor 17 Tagen an Random Englisch

@TechConnectify Do you use ABRP?
https://mastodon.social/@rickscully/112672179598910246

TechConnectify , vor 16 Tagen

@the_other_jon it's been a while since I used it (I don't really do road trips often) but it was fantastic every time I used it.

I just planned the trip using the web UI and then navigated from each suggested charger to the next one, and it nailed the SOCs within a few percent every time

yngmar , vor 28 Tagen an Random Englisch

Another dead cell in a battery pack. Not even 10 years old.

We really need better batteries.

The energy density is acceptable, but the lifespan is not.

#18650cell #Battery #Electronics #PowerStorage

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph @edavies @yngmar I'm not glossing over it, though. The fact of the matter is a light bulb that could last 1,500 hours is going to be noticeably dimmer than one that only lasts a thousand while using the same amount of power

Perhaps you might be rubbed the wrong way by the cartel making a choice for you, and that's something I can understand. But the operating cost of a light bulb exceeded the purchase cost of a light bulb, so a longer lasting but dimmer bulb is just not ideal.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph @edavies @yngmar this remains true today. Or at least, wherever you can still buy general purpose incandescent light bulbs.

In the video I show a 40 w appliance bulb and a 40 watt chandelier bulb. They use identical amounts of power, but the appliance bulb was rated for 2,500 hours rather than a thousand and was much dimmer.

Therefore, if you needed more light, you had to burn more of those bulbs and would spend much more money on electricity.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph @edavies @yngmar and something that's key to remember here is that the light bulb manufacturers, through their relationship with companies that made generators, were very involved in the build out of the electricity grid.

Light bulbs were the main reason people wanted electricity initially, and if they started competing with each other on runtime, people would be using very energy-inefficient bulbs which would make the grid build out harder in addition to costing consumers more money.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph @edavies @yngmar The cartel, while it had some shady practices going on, was trying to get in front of people focusing on the wrong metric and making bad choices.

Because by the time light bulb production was automated and they were cheap enough that the operating cost exceeded the purchase cost, a long-lasting light bulb was literally a bad deal. They only made sense to use where it was hard to change light bulbs, as for general purpose lamps more frequent replacement was better.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph @edavies @yngmar and one last point. While I don't want to toot my own horn, if you don't understand what I'm saying, that video I made explains it very well.

Incandescent light bulb technology always had a trade-off between energy efficiency and lifespan. If you overdrive a tungsten lamp, you can get energy efficiency rivaling LEDs! But it will only last seconds. I demoed that.

1,000 hours was simply a decent sweet spot which the cartel standardized on and enforced.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph @edavies @yngmar and what exactly is the difference between this distinction?

My video was made not because I think the cartel was wholesome and pure, but because using it as an example of planned obsolescence... just doesn't work.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph

Like, I'll be honest and say that what really bothers me about this discussion is that in order for you to view the hourly limit as nefarious, you have to ignore both the engineering reality of tungsten light bulbs and the fact that electricity costs money too, more than purchasing the light bulbs.

As long as the operating cost is greater than the purchase cost, which it was, then that limit was actually in the best interest of consumers.

I don't think it's productive to dwell on it.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph I think, quite understandably, people are very skeptical of corporations making optimization decisions on behalf of other people.

But I don't see any way to describe this as an incorrect decision. Especially since, as you admit, that standard stayed a thing until the next millennium.

I hold both facts in my head that the cartel was a bad organization and that the hourly limit was actually a good thing. I don't think those are incompatible thoughts.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph sorry to infodump, but I want to make one last point.

Have you met the general public? If they are presented with two light bulb options, one of which is longer lasting, they will probably pick it. Big number better.

They are not going to do the research to figure out that a longer lasting light bulb is dimmer, so if you fill your house with those light bulbs, you'll need higher power bulbs to get the same amount of light.

The limit prevented ignorant people from making bad choices.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph and I'll say at one last time:

That is a distinction without a difference!

And I have to be honest with you, if all they wanted was to maximize their profits - why didn't they pick 250 hours?

All I'm saying is that a shady organization did a thing which happened to benefit practically everybody. I don't really care what the motive was, and as I said from the start, the purpose of my video is purely to say incandescent light bulbs are not a good example of planned obsolescence.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph I think it is just as revisionist to tell this story without explaining that there is a lifespan and efficiency trade-off.

And I also think it's incredibly unlikely that that was not part of the discussion when the standards were made and enforced.

We had perfected the technology by the time the cartel had been formed. The tungsten filament was the last significant innovation before halogen lamps.

If this cartel just happened to pick the right number by chance, whoopdeydoo.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph and not to put too fine a point on it, but long-life bulbs which are wasteful on energy just to allow people to buy them less frequently (but which end up costing consumers more because the electricity is more expensive than purchasing the light bulb!) are, to me, the same kind of waste that is driving a pickup truck around to commute.

I don't care who tells me that's a dumb idea! It's a dumb idea.

This is, imo, a rare case of true symbiosis between bulb manufacturers and the public.

TechConnectify , vor 28 Tagen

@jwcph so, I don't know what wavelength we are missing here but I'm not going to bother arguing anymore.

Frankly, if there's one thing that I think is revisionist? It's the idea that light bulbs could be a durable good in the first place.

Now, we have the technology to make that the case. In fact, we've had the technology for many decades! Fluorescent and high intensity discharge lamps have been around for a very long time. Yet incandescent bulbs stayed the same because they were optimized.