When Bob Dylan arrived in Britain in 1965, he was asked by a journalist: "What's your real message?” He replied: "Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb."
On 1 September 2011, a ban on the manufacture and importing of 60W incandescent light bulbs came into force across the European Union. The imposed switch to low energy Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFL) has been driven by a hope of reducing man-made contribution to climate change. Similar moves are occurring all over the globe. However, many have expressed resentment at the change being imposed rather than voluntary, and there is a widespread view that CFL bulbs trade several aspects of light quality in order to achieve their lower energy consumption. CFLs have been described as ugly, with harsher light, adversely altering the color of illumination and painfully slow at reaching a useable brightness. We here at DIGS support evidence-based conservation of the planet, but sees fit to mark the passing of what has been described as a mini-laboratory in a glass jar.
Light fascinates.... and has fascinated since ancient times. Genesis 1 describes light being created before the sun, moon and stars. Perhaps some things only exist by reference to others, eg their opposite. Light and dark are opposites and it may be that we need one as a reference point to understand the other: it’s possible to define darkness as the absence of light, and light as the absence of darkness. Light has wave properties – it’s an electromagnetic vibration at a given frequency or at a multitude of frequencies and our eyes can only recognize a tiny fraction of them. So, it’s a bit like music then – music for the eyes. String Theory in physics suggests that all matter is derived from the vibration of minuscule strings, so maybe everything comes down to music.
So what music is fitting to play at the passing of this technological achievement? What should be the components of a Requiem For An Incandescent Bulb?
A good place to start would be with the guy usually credited with inventing it, Thomas Alva Edison. He’s from New Jersey you know. In actual fact, after Humphrey Davy generated the first incandescent light (though not in a bulb), more than 20 inventors of the incandescent bulb are listed ahead of Edison. What Edison did was improve it to the point where it was reliable, generated useable quantities of light, and was suitable for mass manufacture. Edison is also credited for inventing the phonograph; rumors of whose death were exaggerated as well.