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Flat Light Bulbs
How is it possible no designer had ever thought of this before? |
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 The box is flat as well |
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In 1879 Edison contributed to the development of incandescent lighting by producing a practical and viable light bulb, that shone for 48 hours straight. Practical and viable? Maybe for its time it was, but a contrivance made of round glass that overheats in less than 5 minutes isn’t exactly practical. Plus the light bulb is a fairly inefficient device: 90% of the light it produces is transformed into heat and only the remaining 10% is used to give light.
Thanks to energy efficient light bulbs, we’ve become a bit more ecological, but we’re still light years from seeing a practical, durable and cheap light bulb.
A Korean inventor has dared to create the flat light bulb, an invention that seems contradictory, because light bulbs are round, aren’t they? Well, they’re not. It seems they’ve always had this shape, but only because no one had ever thought to invent a light bulb with a different silhouette. If we visit the page on light bulbs at Wikipedia we’ll observe that nowhere does it describe the light bulb’s shape.
This flat light bulb is a good example of portable lighting. Its shape makes it easier to pack, since it does not need to go in a square box but can instead be stored in narrower rectangular packages. Shipping is also simplified and almost twice as many flat light bulbs as round ones will fit in a truck. Also, since it’s flat, it won’t roll all over the floor when you leave it there to change it.
Will we now be able to keep several light bulbs in a drawer? Not quite yet, it seems, because this light bulb doesn’t exist. It was introduced at 100% Desgin Tokyo, Tokyo’s design week, celebrated the week of November 2nd through the 6th. How long will it be before Ikea starts selling the ultra-flat GLÖDA for 2 Euros? Make your bets.
There’s also a similar invention called CardLight, a card made of paperboard that holds an ultra-flat pop-up light bulb. The bulb lights up when you flip the paperboard open, creating an intimate ambience anywhere. The device measures the size of a credit card, that oh-so-practical size that has inspired so many designers creating their products.
If you like the flat light bulbs, at Curiosite you can buy the Eon Lite flashlight. It’s also the size of a credit card and you can carry it around with you all the time. Its battery lasts 5 to 10 years and can produce light for up to 168 hours straight We carry it in blue and inblack.
Source Yanko & I New Idea
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