The lightbulb conspiracy is both real and everywhere

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1:06This summer break, we wanted to bring you a collection of hidden histories that will make you rethink how the world works, starting with this episode. If you ever wondered why your tech outdates so fast or just plain fails, keep listening to find out.

1:28All right, y 'all. Let's do this. Let's do it. Let's just do it. Okay. Sally. Hey, Sally. Hi. Hey, guys. Welcome to the studio. Thank you so much for having me. I took a long walk around the corner from the Planet Money section of the office over to the through line part. What brings you here? Well, I think I have a story for you. So I've been looking into the history of planned obsolescence. Do you guys know what this is? Yes. I know what planned obsolescence is. It's like the idea that companies might be deliberately breaking products in order to get us to buy more. Yeah, I had the old washer-dryer combo.

2:08It broke the day after the warranty ended. I'm not kidding. It just broke. Water went everywhere. And we were left with nothing. We couldn't do anything about it. The worst. So when that kind of thing happens, that is when people start tossing around this phrase, planned obsolescence. And I wanted to look back and see what the history of this idea is. I found two stories. One happens in the shadows, and the other happens right before our eyes. And these two stories helped me understand a force that, I think it is not an exaggeration to say, shapes the entire consumer economy. So do you want to hear it?

2:52Bring it on. All right. Coming up after the break.

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4:03Then your phone rings. Instead of hearing the happy birthday song you were hoping for, you hear a symphony of toddler sniffles and sneezes, not the kind of homesickness you were expecting. You decide grandma can't fend off the germs alone. Luckily, trip interruption benefits can help cover the extra costs of heading home early, saving you money while you save the day. Learn more at AllianzTravelInsurance.com. Okay, so you're driving to work or you're on a walk or you're at the gym or whatever, and you just need to clear your head. That's the perfect time to hit the play button on NPR's All Songs Considered.

4:39It's not the news, it's not work, or whatever else is weighing you down. It's just a good time with good friends and great tunes. Listen to All Songs Considered every Tuesday in the NPR Music Podcast. Okay, I'm going to start this story in the 1990s in Germany with a small group of, I would call them book nerds. And they were nerds about one book in particular. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow. A demanding novel of comic terrifying incidents that traces the odyssey of the antihero, an American lieutenant stationed in London during World War II. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex.

5:24Do you guys know this book? I don't know. It's sort of like one of those cult classic books. It's like 700 pages long, very dense, paranoid, has like, you know, technical details about rocket science kind of thing. It's that kind of book. Gravity's Rainbow was something like the Bible of a circle of friends. So we're really delving into the history of that novel and we're absolutely fascinated by the fiction. That's Markus Krajewski. He and two of his friends were obsessed with this one book in particular because they were all sort of technically minded people. One of them studied the machine gun.

6:01Marcus had studied the Dewey decimal system. So, you know, machines, systems, conspiracy theories, the same sort of thing that Pynchon was writing about. So this book was great fuel for intense discussions, drinking tea together, smoking dope together, at trips to the countryside together, spending the whole weekend talking about light bulbs within beautiful nature. They would spend the whole weekend talking about light bulbs. Correct. Light bulbs. Yes. So there was this one story within the story of Gravity's Rainbow that they were really intrigued by. A small history of an eternal light bulb.

6:43It's called Byron the Bulb. An eternal light bulb. Yes. An eternal light bulb, which would never fade out. It's perfectly built, so it cannot just die. It's eternal. In the book, Byron the Bulb is conscious, and he knows that he is going to live forever. But he also knows that there is a group of people out there who are trying to get him. It is a group of light bulb manufacturers called Phoebus, who know that, obviously, if light bulbs can live forever, then light bulb manufacturers will be out of business. So Phoebus learns about Byron and tries to destroy him. Okay, clearly fiction. Well? Once you're familiar with Pynchon, you know that it's not only fiction, but it's very much based on facts.

7:33So the history of the eternal light bulb sounds like pure fantasy, But if you dig a little bit into history, it turns out that Pynchon had sources. So that is what they talked about all weekend. Which parts of this totally far-fetched-seeming story might actually be true? And they started to ask themselves this question. Could there be a light bulb that could live forever? I'm going to say no. Really? Because recall that this is a podcast. and I'm forced to reveal at this moment that in fact there is a light bulb that lives forever. At least, I mean, almost forever. Forever-ish. It's been burning since 1901.

8:17And I went out to Livermore, California to meet it. See the bulb.

8:25That's it up there. That's it. Can you see the light? Yeah, it's just a light bulb, right? Wait, you flew across the country to look at a light bulb. I flew across the country to see a light bulb, to interview a light bulb. Actually, I was interviewing a person. I talked to Tom Bramill. He's a retired deputy fire chief. The bulb hangs in the Livermore fire station. This is a hand-blown bulb. And when it was manufactured, it was a secret formula that they used on the carbon filament. Ooh, a secret formula. Which is still secret today. Remember, this bulb has been burning continuously. So obviously no one has broken it open to figure out what exactly is going on.

9:05We do know that there is carbon involved. The carbon filament was so hard, they said it would reach the density of a diamond. What kind of magical light bulb lasts for more than 100 years? Yeah, I'm kind of hung up on the fact that this bulb has lasted for so long. And I literally have a light bulb in my bathroom that we put in six months ago when we moved in. And it died. So how do we go from the eternal light bulb to Run's dead light bulb? I mean, it's kind of a story about the whole light bulb business, actually. So, okay, in 1879, Thomas Edison introduces what is the first commercially viable light bulb.

9:44And by 1901, when this long-lasting bulb first turns on, the light bulb market is booming. Companies are innovating, and there are lots of little light bulb manufacturers all trying to make the best light bulb that they can. So that's kind of like the first link in the Pynchon story, because there was this period where companies were making very durable light bulbs, a la Byron the Everlasting Bulb. So that is step one. Now, Marcus goes looking for the next link in the story. He wants to find Phoebus. The people out to get Byron. Exactly. So he sees the name Phoebus come up in a few places, like it's in this one book.

10:31But then one of Marcus's friends has an idea. Why don't you check out the archives of Osram, which was the biggest light bulb manufacturer in Germany. And there was a huge trove of documents right there in Berlin.

10:47So, Markus goes searching. In the German archive system, you can see who was reading the files before you. And you discover that nobody has touched these files for decades. You're the first. You're sifting through those original documents, which is thrilling. And in document after document, there it is. The Phoebus cartel. A cartel named Phoebus. The Phoebus cartel. Yes. Do you guys remember how there were all those little light bulb companies competing to make long-lasting bulbs? Yeah. Well, by the 1920s, things have changed. The market has gotten really consolidated. And there are a bunch of big light bulb companies that are basically controlling things.

11:35Compagnie des Lampes was governing the whole market in France. In Hungary, it was Tungsram. General Electric had a branch for the UK. Osram was in Germany. And that, of course, is more or less paradise for an industry. If you have no competitors at all, you can do everything with the consumers because they totally depend on you. Imagine, it's the early 1920s. You're looking at a map of the world. You could go through and write the name of a light bulb monopolist on the countries that they control. They all have their territory. which is great for them, but things aren't perfect. In fact, 1923, at least in particular for that German company, Osram, it's a pretty bad year for sales.

12:22And the head of Osram is this guy named William Meinhardt. He decides that he's going to get the whole crew together, all the monopolists in all the different countries, in order to rule the whole world of the production of light bulbs.

12:44It's late December 1924, a couple days before Christmas, in Geneva, Switzerland. I assume it's snowy. It's Christmas. We can imagine candles flickering in the windows. They meet in secret. It's a short meeting because they've sort of already been chatting about this plan already. And by the time they meet, they're decided. I can quote that if I would only be able to find it. So for the purpose of a stronger cooperation, especially in order to avoid a conflict because of competition and in order to increase sales. They are forming a cartel, a secret group to control the market, the Phoebus Cartel.

13:31Why did they call it the Phoebus Cartel? So the name Phoebus comes from the Greek god of light, also known as Apollo. Clearly saw themselves very highly. Exactly. You know, as these gods of light, they divide up the whole electrified world. And the plan really boils down to this one essential restriction that they put in place. They agreed on exactly 1 ,000 hours. We intentionally have to reduce the quality of the lamps in order to increase sales. These light bulb companies, as part of their mission to sell more light bulbs, have conspired to make their products worse. To break the light bulb so that you have to buy more.

14:20Wait, what? They all pledge to do this? Yeah. They decide we are going to reduce the lifespan of the light bulb from where it was hovering, which was around 2 ,000 hours. They decide we're going to get it down to 1 ,000 hours. How do you even do that? Well, they're experimenting with different materials. They're, like, changing the size of the filament. I mean, you have to imagine that for a long time, the engineers at these companies were trying to make light bulbs better. And what Marcus sees in some of these documents is engineers comparing notes, like going against all their training, and now trying to make the product worse.

15:04It actually took a few years after the agreement was signed before they were even technologically able to make the light bulb as bad as they wanted it to be. So they've figured out how to make the light bulb fail. Yeah, totally. They break the light bulb. Also, obviously, like it's hard to sort of get everyone around the world to do this. Yeah. Because, I mean, if you think about it, so in a cartel, in any cartel, you cheat. That might be good for you and bad for everyone else in the cartel, right? Like if one person makes a better light bulb, they could sort of take over. And the Phoebus cartel knows this.

15:39So they set up a system that basically ensures that people are following the rules. They have light bulb testing rooms. Like in a library, bookshelves, but rather books. You have plug-ins for light bulbs. I've seen a picture of this. It's kind of magical looking. There's a guy in like a lab coat looking thing standing in front of these glowing rows. And all the light bulbs are numbered and they are burning. And the cartel has fines. For the fiscal year 1929, they have penalties with 304 ,000 Swiss francs, which is quite a lot considering the late 1920s. I actually saw a graph of the lifespan of light bulbs around the world during this period, and the lifespan just goes down and down and down and down.

16:33Thebes' plan is working. So they were able to get down to a thousand hours and reach those goals. Did that translate into more profits, more revenue? Yeah, sales were going up. They were selling more light bulbs. And the cooperation, like, it's kind of impressive, you know? Yeah, that's a thing I'm very surprised by. I mean, sinister, but impressive. I'm wondering, though, was there any upside for consumers? Well, I thought this was really interesting. Marcus says Phoebus helped move us towards a more unified system. He told me the reason that there is one kind of incandescent light bulb thread that screws into one kind of socket, that that is partly because of Phoebus.

17:18Because they did this big coordination and it ended up coordinating that aspect too. So what ended up happening with Phoebus Cartel? A few things happened. So first of all, General Electric, the big American light bulb company, they were involved in the Phoebus cartel in sort of a sideways way through their international subsidiaries. But they get into some legal trouble in the United States for alleged anti-competitive practices. And there's a judgment against them in 1953. In that court opinion, a bunch of information about Phoebus actually comes out. There's no way to know for sure, but this might be where Thomas Pynchon got his inspiration.

17:55But the real sort of death knell for the cartel was World War II. And it's for sort of obvious reasons. Global cooperation among these powers was impossible because they were at war with each other. But I should make clear that for years, they did succeed at this whole bland obsolescence thing. They made their product worse in order to make more money. So are we at the end? Well, that is the end of this story. But as I mentioned, there are two. I came across another story from this same general time period where obsolescence changes shape and takes on an even more insidious form. After the break, the dark art of a different obsolescence.

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20:10Okay, Sally, so you have another obsolescence story for us? Yes, I do. This one takes place right out in the open, and it changed my whole sense of who the villain is behind plant obsolescence. The story starts around the same time that the lightbulb story does, at the turn of the 20th century. Lightbulbs are getting more popular in the U.S., and so are automobiles. One automobile in particular. If you went to buy a car in the United States, you'd find a lot full of black Model Ts that all look almost exactly the same. Henry Ford said you could have it in any color as long as it's black. This is Giles Slade.

20:55He's the author of Made to Break, Technology and Obsolescence in America. OK, so it's not the most glamorous ride, but what do you get when you buy Henry Ford's Model T? I mean, you can think of it as basically like a replacement for your horse. So the driving experience is really like driving a tractor through a field. These machines are very popular, but they're sort of like farm machinery. They're not very luxurious. And like tractors, the way Model Ts were made and marketed, they were geared towards men. Yeah, not surprising. The men. They're everywhere. Ah, here we go. Here we go. Oh, you're still here?

21:37So Henry Ford is just the start of this story. There's another man that I would like to introduce you to. His name is Alfred P. Sloan. This is the Sloan Foundation guy, right? The NPR founder. I mean, yes. So you've heard him because the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Same guy. And full disclosure, that foundation is one of Planet Money's financial supporters. Okay, so Sloan. Like Henry Ford, Sloan is an electrical engineer. He graduates from MIT in 1895, and he becomes this serious, single-minded businessman. One journalist who wrote about him made this list of his character traits, including works every hour, has no hobbies, never reads, never drinks, never tells stories.

22:21Sounds like rund. What? It sounds like rund. You want to take this outside, Ravine? No, no. Don't take it outside. Sloan is a business genius. So, you know, I don't know. Maybe that's like run two. Thank you, Sally. You're so welcome. So in one of his first jobs, Sloan basically saves a failing company. And by 1918, he has caught the eye of General Motors. GM is maybe not failing, but struggling. Because the car business is tough in the 1920s. Henry Ford has already sold a car to, like, many of the people who would want to buy one. So why would they buy a car from General Motors? Sloan had some ideas.

23:05First up, he introduced different makes and models. A luxury line, a kind of premium line, a sort of middle-class line, four-door sedans for families, and then an economy line. The very cheap, you know, 19 to 23 Chevy. All America is waiting and watching for the new Chevrolet. Have you heard anything about the new Chevrolet? I wonder what the new Chevrolet is going to be like. And I heard the new ones are going to be even more comfortable. This is a total innovation for cars. This has not been done before. And then Sloan starts looking at the data on who is buying things. Not necessarily cars, just things.

23:44Marketing and advertising firms began the first real demographic research in the teens. And what they discovered around 1920 was that women were actually spending the family money, making 85 % of all purchases. But remember, the Model T was plain, simple, and made for men. So Sloan realized... He could sell more by doing a lot of things that Henry Ford would never think of doing, like making it a much more comfortable experience to start and ride in a car, and also making it a much more aesthetics experience by, you know, having different colored cars. This last thing, colors, was huge. Because before this, cars were covered in a lacquer that just like did not hold colors all that well.

24:32Like it would sometimes like fade to yellow. It was just not really working. So black was the most practical, the most permanent. But in the 1920s, this company DuPont, which was an investor in GM, they spent a fortune trying to create durable colored paint. And in 1923, they succeeded. In the next few years, as Sloan rolled out new models aimed at women, they were all different colors. Side note, this same paint breakthrough actually also leads to nail polish as we know it. Nail polish and car paint were the same thing. I know, I found this so funny, but yes, the same basic paint break. Right, exactly, if you want.

25:12This color thing, I mean, this is Sloan's big gambit. He is wondering, can I sell the same basic machine just in a radically different package? We make the superficial things the key thing to the purchase. So the fins on the back, a better radio, new upholstery, all the sort of accessories, the kind of what would have been considered frivolous things, they become essential. Sloan said we want the consumer to buy a new car every year. That's Jacques Peretti, author of the book The Deals That Made the World. Over time, GM tries out different looks. They lower the car's body. They elongate the hood.

25:55It has crazy curves. They don't really change the engine, but eventually you can get the car in blue. Or red. Or green. After the break, Or yellow. Or orange. Alfred Sloan gets into our heads. Or maroon. And stays there. Or gray. Or beige. Or white. Or pink. Or silver. Or white.