Pollywogs!

So a year ago I got this little nightlight, it had a photoelectric eye and two tiny incandescent bulbs. I thought it looked nice, it was inexpensive, so I purchased it. About six months later both bulbs were burned out. On the back it says (besides Made in China) “Do Not Open. No User Serviceable Parts Inside”.

It had four Phillips head screws, looked like two normal flashlight bulbs, ‘bullshit’ I said and grabbed a screwdriver. Inside were the eye, a couple basic discrete components, and the two bulbs. A closer look reveals the reason for the message on the back. The wires were soldered directly to the bulb. The plastic was molded to retain a bulb holder, the back was easily removeable with a simple hand tool, and the bulbs themselves were basic and readily attainable…and then some jackass in a suit said “Why are we throwing away the baby with the bathwater”?

Yes, why build something that could be used indefinately, when instead the consumer could be forced to shell out another three bucks every year or so? So what if it is a completely absurd waste of resources? Everything is throw away, we won’t stand out in the crowd! Perfect money making scam!!!

Well, you know what “AmerTac”? FUCK YOU.

I went out and bought a pile of LED based nightlights. Got two per pack, use like 2/10 of a Watt per hour each instead of 5 Watts, have an automatic eye and rudimentary aiming, are the perfect brightness for the dead of night, and they ought to last a decade.

Don’t feel too bad “AmerTac”, likely if the LEDs do burn out I’ll crack that case open too, and solder some new ones on at that far distant point. Assuming I’m not in some Haliburton detention center getting waterboarded…