I got interested in street lighting by watching HID lights come on, and get brighter and brighter.  LEDs are sexless.  They just come on, and that's it.  I know it's inevitable they will replace all lights with LEDs, but come ON!!! 

The good news is, this MAY present an opportunity for us collectors to gain several HID fixtures for our collections. 

Why not have a HID simulation LED street light, Complete with restart delay and explosions.

Why not have a HID simulation LED street light, Complete with restart delay and explosions.

I have yet to see an uncontained lamp failure (catastrophic)

I agree LEDs are cold and lifeless even instant start have some warmth and personality by comparison

Have you watched a LED light come OFF ?

Have you watched a LED light come OFF ?

The phosphors glow!

Not only that, some of them dim down electrically too as they have capacitors that discharge. And in some of them not all LEDs dim equally fast or go out at the same time

Anyway, we are special in that we like starting of lamps. Most peeps like exactly the on/off behavior. Why ? I dont think there is any real justification - There are very few applications where even few seconds of Fluorescent starting are a problem. Its just that peeps like technology to work without showing itself sorta

To me it looks the same thing as the peeps who want the wall switches in which the screws are hidden. They dont want to accept that a switch is held togehter by screws or something

Not only that, some of them dim down electrically too as they have capacitors that discharge. And in some of them not all LEDs dim equally fast or go out at the same time

Anyway, we are special in that we like starting of lamps. Most peeps like exactly the on/off behavior. Why ? I dont think there is any real justification - There are very few applications where even few seconds of Fluorescent starting are a problem. Its just that peeps like technology to work without showing itself sorta

To me it looks the same thing as the peeps who want the wall switches in which the screws are hidden. They dont want to accept that a switch is held togehter by screws or something

Why wouldn't people want to accept that a wall switch is held together by screws? It would be more durable than plastic.

It's also fun seeing what happens to them when they undergo a power surge (seen it happen before)

I do have led and there is no fun in them at all.
they make light,yawn

Why wouldn't people want to accept that a wall switch is held together by screws? It would be more durable than plastic.[/quote]

It is Plastic, or in the better ones, Phenolic polymer. Thing is, "ordinary" switches have the knob and 2 screws on their faceplate. Simple and working. Peeps consider it as ugly, so they want the switches with big plate instead of the knob. The plate is made so it covers the screws. It is often made really figural, curved, ....

What about, that i dont consider any of those new switches to be nicer looking than the simple oldies. But they are not made for the last 15 years or so. It came to the point that if i want to buy a switch, its "pick your poison" out of stuff that was designed by interior designers, each of which tries to be more artistic than the other, some of them to the point of barfing (or the switch looks like it is about to barf at you)

And that berfore we mention their functionality. The click of the old ones is clearly a metallic click of closing contacts. In ALL the new ones the sound is more like that of cracking plastic than anything else

Why wouldn't people want to accept that a wall switch is held together by screws? It would be more durable than plastic.

It is Plastic, or in the better ones, Phenolic polymer. Thing is, "ordinary" switches have the knob and 2 screws on their faceplate. Simple and working. Peeps consider it as ugly, so they want the switches with big plate instead of the knob. The plate is made so it covers the screws. It is often made really figural, curved, ....

What about, that i dont consider any of those new switches to be nicer looking than the simple oldies. But they are not made for the last 15 years or so. It came to the point that if i want to buy a switch, its "pick your poison" out of stuff that was designed by interior designers, each of which tries to be more artistic than the other, some of them to the point of barfing (or the switch looks like it is about to barf at you)

And that berfore we mention their functionality. The click of the old ones is clearly a metallic click of closing contacts. In ALL the new ones the sound is more like that of cracking plastic than anything else
[/quote]
What? I have never heard the sound of closing contacts or cracking plastic in wall switches.
Are your light switches different than ours?

They are, to a big extent

This is how a proper switch looks like (see other pics in there for a lineup of different versions and how its made inside)
http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2941&pos=10&pid=55863

How today's switches looks like google for "europe wall switch"

Every switch I got to use in Europe felt like the metallic contacts closing.

Some oldies maybe ? Try the new ones