@wallbe
In 1901, a light bulb was switched on in California — and it never really turned off.
Inside a fire station in Livermore, the Centennial Light has been glowing almost continuously for more than 120 years. Built with a simple carbon filament, it was made during a time when durability was the goal, not an afterthought.
While it’s dimmer than modern bulbs, it still works — quietly proving how long products can last when longevity is prioritized.
The contrast with today is striking. Modern manufacturing often follows a strategy called planned obsolescence, where products are intentionally designed to wear out or fail.
This shift became official in the 1920s, when major bulb manufacturers formed the Phoebus Cartel and agreed to cap bulb lifespans at 1,000 hours to boost repeat sales.
The Centennial Light stands as a glowing reminder that fragility isn’t inevitable. Scarcity is often engineered — and durability, it turns out, was never the problem.
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