Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysTIFFSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

The Light Bulb Conspiracy

Original title: Prêt-à-jeter
  • 2010
  • 1h 15m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
The Light Bulb Conspiracy (2010)
Documentary

This is the story of companies who engineered their products to fail.This is the story of companies who engineered their products to fail.This is the story of companies who engineered their products to fail.

  • Director
    • Cosima Dannoritzer
  • Writer
    • Cosima Dannoritzer
  • Stars
    • Richard Jones
    • Molly Malcolm
    • Steve Bunn
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.0/10
    2.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Cosima Dannoritzer
    • Writer
      • Cosima Dannoritzer
    • Stars
      • Richard Jones
      • Molly Malcolm
      • Steve Bunn
    • 10User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 3 nominations

    Photos

    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Jones
    • Self - Livermore Lightbulb Committee
    Molly Malcolm
    Molly Malcolm
    • Narrator (English version)
    • (voice)
    Steve Bunn
    • Self - Collector
    Markus Krajewski
    • Self - Weimar's Bauhaus University
    Lynn Owens
    • Self
    Thomas A. Edison
    Thomas A. Edison
    • Self - Inventor
    • (archive footage)
    Helmut Höge
    • Self - Lightbulbs Historian
    Warner Philips
    • Self - Great-grandson of the Founders of Philips
    Nicols Fox
    • Self - Essayist and Journalist
    Marcos López Merayo
    • Self - Computer Expert
    • (as Marcos López)
    Giles Slade
    • Self - Author 'Made to Break'
    Dorothea Weitzner
    • Self - - Daughter of Bernard London's Associate
    Kipp Stevens
    • Self - Chairman Brooks Stevens Design Associates
    Brooks Stevens
    • Self - Industrial Designer
    • (archive footage)
    • (voice)
    Boris Knuf
    • Self - Industrial Designer
    • (as Dr. Boris Knuf)
    Serge Latouche
    • Self - Emeritus Professor of Economics University of Paris
    John Thackara
    • Self - Designer and Philosopher…
    Mike Gurman
    • Self - Computer Expert
    • Director
      • Cosima Dannoritzer
    • Writer
      • Cosima Dannoritzer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
    7.2
    Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
    Who Killed the Electric Car?
    7.6
    Who Killed the Electric Car?
    Zeitgeist
    8.1
    Zeitgeist
    Experimenter
    6.6
    Experimenter
    Blood in the Mobile
    7.1
    Blood in the Mobile
    La Unidad
    7.3
    La Unidad
    La innocència
    6.5
    La innocència
    The Corporation
    8.0
    The Corporation
    Tony
    8.1
    Tony
    Capitalism: A Love Story
    7.4
    Capitalism: A Love Story
    Trashed
    7.6
    Trashed
    Collapse
    7.7
    Collapse

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Alternate versions
      Shorter version, 52m52s long, edited for 1 hour slot on television. Has been broadcast on at least NRK (Norwegian Television).
    • Connections
      Features The Man in the White Suit (1951)

    User reviews10

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Problem of our society in the 21st century
    The documentary is about the planned obsolescence lined throghout the light bulb. The fact that the bulb's life invented by Thomas Edison in 1878 lasted about 1500 hours and the current bulbs's life are 1000 hours shows us the whole problem. 140 years passed and the bulbs's lifetime shortened by 500 hours. There was time when it was 2500 hours before the planned obselescence. Or who really knows when did this thing come to our world. The narrator says inventors were doing researches and they did a light bulb lasted 100,000 hours but it didn't reach the general market. Some may say it is because of that might was too dark or not environment friendly, but I don't think it was the reason for not letting them to the market. On the other hand, if the bulb would be much more lighter or environment friendly I might say it's more acceptable, but bulbs aren't much more effective than it was back in the 19th century. And this is just an example. Or we might say a sample for other goods. There are a lot of things (or we could say every goods) that consciously built for early obsolescence like mobiles, TVs, furnitures(?), houses(?), vacuums and so on. I think this is a problem of our society. People on Earth became too gold diggers. We (or not we but the gold diggers (I think approximately 90% of people)) put money to the 1st place on our value system (prioritize money too much). There are so many things happening in the world that we can't, or don't want to realize that are for making more and more money. Almost everything infected and invented by money, like religion, wars and so on. Just think about it someone borns to Congo (poorest country in the world), and someone to Dubai and that will impact them lifes like one of them will 30% die from hunger, does anything, and one of them will have a beautiful house by doing nothing. And they can't do anything about it because they born to that country.

    So the planned obsolescence is about "quantity over quality". As an engineer wants to sale their products it's a enormous invention, but as a human... Multinational companies product more goods with less money and they sell them at the same prize like it would be the best quality they could do. Moreover, the products's lifetime is shorter, so people will buy more often them, which comes with more money. So poor people spend their money, got by hard work, and companies get more rich by these people's money. But it's the 21st century and that's how life's going.
    helpful•2
    0
    • ZoltanJonas
    • Feb 25, 2021

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 16, 2010 (Spain)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Spain
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • French
      • English
      • Catalan
      • Spanish
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Pyramids of Waste
    • Filming locations
      • France
    • Production companies
      • ARTE
      • Article Z
      • Media 3.14
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 15 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1
      • 16:9 HD

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Light Bulb Conspiracy (2010)
    Top Gap
    By what name was The Light Bulb Conspiracy (2010) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.