The Blues for LEDs 475
Corey Burger writes "Seems somebody rolled out of bed on the wrong side today. The Globe and Mail's Ian Johnson delivers up a rant about the ubiquity of the new blue LEDs."
You must realize that the computer has it in for you. The irrefutable proof of this is that the computer always does what you tell it to do.
Fat cat (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fat cat (Score:5, Insightful)
Silly Blue LEDs on Rusted Out Honda Accords (Score:5, Funny)
If he doesn't like blue LEDs, then he didn't really need to buy a new monitor, handheld scanner, webcam, USB hub, Bluetooth access point, WiFi adapter, desktop volume control for his speakers, external hard drive, video editing peripheral, keyboard, home theatre, wireless music gateway, USB keychain drive, and portable MP3 player, all apparently in the "recent months".
Ignoring the quantity of his purchases, it *is* really annoying that so many different devices, presumably from different manufacturers, would all be so-festooned.
But what really irks me is the idiots who put blue lights all over their cars - usually silly little Honda cars with 3" diameter coffee can exhaust tips (despite the 1" diameter pipe coming from the puny little 1.6L engine).
Blue side markers, taillights, parking lights? Non-conformant with SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers [sae.org], look closely at your taillight lenses) standardized coloring and therefore dangerous. Illegal. Police should be cracking down on these the way they used to crack down on 50's hot-rodders who were putting the blue dots into their red taillights.
LEDs (especially blue) on calipers, brake rotors, rims, windshield washer nozzles - what are you, stupid? It might have looked a little neat the first time someone did it, but now it's every home-boy who doesn't know how to put on a baseball cap who is doing it. Why would you spend your money being a brainless clone, when instead you could save it to put a real motor into your Civic? (Now, if you've got a Civic with a 4-bolt mains Chevy 350 under the hood, *then* I'll be impressed - takes a little more skill to do that than to put silly lights on the car.)
Re:Fat cat (Score:5, Funny)
Shuttle SB75G2 (Score:5, Interesting)
This guy is right on target with this new "blue" craze because it's starting to take the coolness out of all the things I've custom modded with blue LEDs
No kidding (Score:4, Informative)
It's not the use of blue LEDs that bothers me, it's how damn bright most of them are. An indicator that my gear is turned on is nice. An indicator that my gear is turned on that I can see from outside at night (makes the room glow blue) is more than just a bit of overkill.
Well... blue LEDs are okay... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Well... blue LEDs are okay... (Score:2)
From my experience, no. Several computers and I don't _have_ any blue LEDs. So, one of those weird articles for me to read, at least.
Re:Well... blue LEDs are okay... (Score:3, Funny)
Technically, Yes...or is it the other way around? [pogolinux.com]
I've got one of pogolinux's Storageware devices, running RH AS3 (versus the RH9 it came "with"...got the disks 3 days after the device. No matter, now).
Anyway, this thing has 32 of those *BRIGHT* blue led's...16 are constatntly lit when the drives are powered, and the other 16 during access. With the drives all in raid 5, you can imagine the flashing.
Also imagine the noise of 4 (guess on my part so far) 5K to 7.2Krpm fans going
Best X-Box mod ever... (Score:2, Funny)
wtf (Score:2, Insightful)
or cover them with insulation tape.
next
What a wiener. (Score:5, Insightful)
In any event, isn't unification what we're looking for now in computing? Isn't it a nice thing (that has spun an entire cottage-industry of mods and such) that we can get our computer "look and feel" to match our decor? To match itself, for that matter? Looking around my desk, I see some green, red, yellow, and orange LEDs. I would be tickled if they could all be more unified. With, of course, the exception of my HDD LEDs, which I like to be able to notice out of the corner of my eye.
Sounds to me like someone's got a case of the (pre-)Mondays. ;)
Re:What a wiener. (Score:3, Insightful)
Some LEDs still do serve a genuine purpo
Mmmmm Blue (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Mmmmm Blue (Score:2)
My only problem with them is my eyesight doesn't allow me to focus on the things. I see a nice pinprick of green or red or orange LED... but a big fuzzy blob of blue for the blue ones!
Re:Mmmmm Blue (Score:2)
I would be a fan of a nice, muted blue LED. One that is still a nice cold blue colour, but is not a piercingly bright point source.
/me goes at a 3mm blue LED with some sandpaper to see if it works.
Are there really that many? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Are there really that many? (Score:4, Interesting)
Nope, not me.
Doesn't it seem odd that everything this guy owns has blue LEDs? He must replace his entire collection of electronic devices every month or two. Must be nice. The only thing I have with a blue LED in it is a small flashlight that uses one AA battery and is almost as usefull as a full sized flashlight (except for the slight color distortion). These things are great.
He's right though about manufacturers tending to over-use new technologies. People behind the scenes who market individual components such as this, bluetooth devices, dimmer switches, and on and on, seem to have a disproportionate impact on what finds it's way into our homes than we as consumers do. Do they use focus groups for design issues such as this, or do they just GUESS what will sell?
Whatever they do often doesn't work for me. Which is why I changed from someone who has to have the latest version of everything (like the author of the article apparently) to someone who is quite happy to get last years model, maybe, and if the price is right.
Re:Are there really that many? (Score:2)
In any case, I imagine the posting of this story here will have a salutary effect on the web poll on the same page: "Would you seriously consider adopting Linux for your desktop PC?"
Re:Are there really that many? (Score:2)
The other day I was with a guy with a spiffy new cell phone where the whole thing lit up in bright blue. Stupid. Blue isn't a particularly easy-to-view color. He says he finds his cell phone screen hard to read because of it.
I normally watch television in an almost-dark room. My Radio Shack powered indoor antenna has a blue led on
Re:Are there really that many? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think a lot of people missed the comment the author made about his job reviewing stuff. That means he's going to have TONS of new stuff all around him all the time.
But no, as for me, I remember being a little taken aback the first time I drove my car at night with the car charger for my Nextel i730 in the socket. My car has the accessory socket clear on the passenger side of the center console, nearly in front of the passenge
Then choose another device (Score:5, Insightful)
That said....unless someone gives him all his devices for free then geesh just buy different devices! If you are getting all your devices for free and then you have the nerve to complain about the color of the LED then shut your friggin pie hole before I give you a punch in the throat.
Re:Then choose another device (Score:3, Informative)
Ian Johnson writes a regular column for the Globe and Mail called The Chic Geek [globetechnology.com]. He also edits the technology section of the paper.
You can be certain that manufacturers regularly send him stuff in the hope that he will review it. Additionally, you can be sure that they will try to send him the 'sexiest' and most eye-catching products from their line--which is all the stuff with blue LEDs.
life? (Score:2)
the LEDs are ok... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:the LEDs are ok... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:the LEDs are ok... (Score:3, Insightful)
those lights can be ok if they came with the car or were proffesionaly installed, when used properly they point to the ground
Maybe, but if the guy behind you with those blinding lights is driving an SUV that sits way higher than your car and is tailgating you like mad (like they all seem to do here) having them point at the ground doesn't really help.
In cars they aren't so bad unless the other driving is heading straight at you, but I swear nothing could make those things less blinding in most of thes
Re:the LEDs are ok... (Score:5, Funny)
I have a hammer that disagrees with that statement.
Re:the LEDs are ok... (Score:2)
I have a hammer that disagrees with that statement.
If *I* had a hammer... well there's one on my wishlist, but right now the one I have is borrowed. I suppose I could always "take care of them" then wipe down the handle and blame it on the room-mate.
Re:the LEDs are ok... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:the LEDs are ok... (Score:4, Informative)
From the Urban Dictionary:
Usually some 17-21 year old male with heavily modified "externals", "posing" in some Honda (typically a civic), giving a bad name to those real tuners who drive fast Hondas!
It's just because they're new (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It's just because they're new (Score:3, Informative)
I know (Score:2)
For example, my girlfriend's PC has a magnifier in the front that puts out a 4cm-squared window of blue light. We fitted some pink paper to it and it's now a very very muted glow that doesn't keep us awake.
I don't need LEDs screaming out at me all the time - that's why my racks have dark smoked-glass doors.
Re:I know (Score:2)
Re:I know (Score:2)
Signal Me a New One (Score:2)
Maybe I need a blue LED that screams, "HEY! YOU! Everything's NOT ok! I'm still on
Stupid Lameness filter...
Funny you should mention that... (Score:5, Interesting)
I remember when Blue LED's were first introduced in the April 1 issue of Byte Magazine (sometime around 1987 IIRC) as an April Fool's joke! Finally, two or three years later they were actually invented!
Re:Funny you should mention that... (Score:3, Interesting)
I feel so out-of-date (Score:2)
Other uses than indicators (Score:5, Interesting)
As for the color, the blue LED does mark the quantum barrier surpassed by nichia a decade or so ago.
Now, roughly 10 years after the introducion of the first practical blue LEDs, we see a whole range of LED products based on the leap made at that time. For example, UV leds are becoming more and more common, and find applications in money checkers, forensics and scientific appliances.
Also, LEDs are becoming very usefull light sources in torches, automotive (brake)lights, traffic signals etc. etc.
Also, keep in mind that many other colors of LED are based on the work by Nichia.. new bright green leds are, white leds are (using a blue led and a phosphor), and also advances in red and yellow leds were achieved.
I think that idicators are just an over the top use of a technology that will bring us more and more interesting light-emitting devices for all kinds of uses.
Re:Other uses than indicators (Score:5, Interesting)
I'll probably convert the tail lights pretty soon. Having to replace any signal bulb once is one time too many, I think.
It's Just a Fad (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, by then we'll have some other over-used new display technology. Perhaps consumer electronics makers will use OLEDs to form a glowing full-color brand name logos. Then the space around our desktops and dens will look like a miniture cityscape with tiny glowing neonesque billboards for all the brands that we buy.
Oh, and wait 20-40 years and blue LEDs will be back as a retro fad. The aging youth of today will look back to this time and will revel in the glory days when devices only had a single simple little blue light.
He hasn't seen (Score:2, Funny)
Nozzle Lights (Score:2)
Of course, then you have the morons that stick them on the valve stems on their tires too. Ugh.
Re:Nozzle Lights (Score:5, Interesting)
I stick valve stem lights on my tires.... My motorcycle tires, that is.
I bought a set of white tire lights and replaced the LED's with 10000mcd whites and now my motorcycle can be seen more easily at night by traffic in the next lane.
You'd be suprised how invisible you are on a motorcycle at night without sufficient side lighting. Now people can at least see rings of bright white light from my wheels. I've even noticed less of a tendency of people trying to pull over into my lane thinking nothing was there. Then again, if the morons would remove the supposedly "cool looking" dark filters off of their headlights, they might see the reflection off the chrome.
I concur. Same problem with the sky (Score:5, Funny)
It really pisses me off.
The Blue sky has a piercing clarity that draws the eye immediately, and which can mesmerize. And at night, the stars shimmer, they twinkle, and they can be incredibly intense for such tiny points of light -- they're really quite beautiful. The problem is they're suddenly everywhere.
Sorry...I must've rolled out of bed the wrong side too.
I'm with him (Score:5, Insightful)
There are great uses for them - for example, my new keyring light is one, and I can not only see to open doors etc but could probably blind a mugger permanantly as well
I think the use of super-bright blue LEDs for indicator lights is rather silly, though. I've replaced a couple in hardware I own, and put electrical tape over a couple of others I can't easily replace, because they were really god dammn annoying.
My PC sits in the living room (connected to the TV), and I used to have to put something in front of it if we were going to watch a film to avoid blinding anyone on the opposite side of the room. The power LED produces almost as much light as my 19" monitor. This is stupid.
As for posters who say "don't buy things with blue LEDs then" - (a) often you don't know until you've installed it, and (b) it's downright stupid to have to select devices based on whether or not the power light will drill a hole through your skull, instead of minor things like reliability or required features.
So block it if it annoys you (Score:2)
Re:I'm with him (Score:4, Funny)
Now that the damn things are all the rage the only game I ever get to play is Disk Activity 3: Arena
Re:I'm with him (Score:3, Funny)
Blue Power-on LEDs and Smoke Alarms (Score:3, Insightful)
It's kind of like having a smoke alarm that beeps _unless_ it smells smoke, isn't it?
BTW - a bunch of people have suggested putting several layers of masking tape over LEDs. It's easier (and tidier) to just put a little dot of tinfoil and a piece of transparent tape.
Cheap blue LEDs (Score:2, Informative)
Nice advertisement (Score:2, Troll)
Yeeesh, this has to be the most blatant advertisement i've ever seen posted as a comment.
Blue LEDs vary anywhere from 23 cents to $2.45 depending upon brightness, lifetime, wavelength, and so on. Quoting a price without any of those specifications is worthless.
Digikey and any of a number of other electronics suppliers will always beat the guy-who-thought-he-could-live-off-selling-LEDs places, especially
cycle 4 (Score:2, Interesting)
My bluetooth usb hub just got some electical tape to cover its flashing blue light. For a long time I was wishing I didn't have usb port in the frount of my case.
Just unscrew it... (Score:2, Interesting)
damn Black light LEDs [halloweenhost.com]
I wholeheartedly agree (Score:5, Funny)
And I'm regretting giving the cleaning staff new blue-LED-equipped brooms last week. Those hundreds of dancing broom-handles put me in such a dreadful mood. How can I concentrate on exploiting those massively regressive tax-cuts when all those lights keep dancing in my brain?
Indeed.
Re:I wholeheartedly agree (Score:4, Funny)
Hey, we are hackers, aren't we? (Score:2)
Yeah, the only blue LED I have on my des
slowest day on /. (Score:2)
It'll be interesting to look back on (Score:2, Insightful)
Things from today:
Care to add?
good to see /. delivering well targetted ads... (Score:3, Funny)
Blue light... so shiny... (Score:5, Funny)
So shiny... Happy happy happy... Must drool and watch... can't resist...
I'm still waiting for the Octalus-like [dvdcheck.de] big mouth with needle-sharp fangs coming out of the cabinet snatching for my head
Yalla.
This line got me... (Score:4, Funny)
The article was worth it because this line reminded me of Homer's Everything's OK Alarm:
BEEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEP, IT WILL KEEP GOING, BEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEP, EVERY 5 SECONDS, BEEEEEEEP, BEEEEEEEP, UNLESS EVERYTHING'S NOT OK, BEEEEEEEP.
Now I'm going to spend all day searching through Simpsons tapes trying to find that episode.
At any rate, hasn't this guy heard of duct tape?
Re:This line got me... (Score:4, Informative)
The theory is if an alarm fails it might not go off, but if it beeps constantly then you will notice if it fails.
LEDs (Score:3, Insightful)
My theory is that it's a selling point on the sales floor - I imagine that a lot of customers, like me, gravitate towards the shiniest and/or brightest option.
~Ben
I have 72 blue LEDs on my watch... (Score:3, Interesting)
Pimpin aint easy watch by PIMP [tokyoflash.com]
A note that came with the watch said the battery only lasts 6-9 months if I need to know the time 15 times a day but who cares when you have such a rockin wrist peice.
Thanks, now I'm depressed (Score:3, Funny)
I don't like blue LEDs... (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously though, more [emergencyv...utions.com] and more [911ep.com] companies [yahoo.com] are starting to use LEDs for warning lighting on emergency vehicles. They don't draw huge amounts of power like incandescent systems, sometimes requiring additional batteries and/or heavy duty alternators; they don't require high voltage triggers like like strobe systems; and they've gotten bright enough to handle about any application other than illumination. It's taken a while for the blues to get bright enough to useful for these tasks; some early iterations are barely visible next to their red counterparts in daylight (though they've gotten to the point now where some of these LED systems are so bright they seem to be giving you eye surgery).
One interesting thing if you look at the pricing: blue and white still often cost more than double the price of red, amber, or green.
The color is fine. Brightness is the problem (Score:5, Informative)
The color, though, is correct. The standard NEMA rules for indicator colors, used on industrial gear for decades, are
Anything that rackmounts should follow these rules. It's not only annoying, but a headache, to have red lights for non-trouble conditions in a rack of equipment. IBM always has.
A way to turn them off? (Score:3, Interesting)
Solution (Score:3, Funny)
Yup, I tape a lot of LEDs "shut" (Score:3, Informative)
So I've used little bits of white electrical tape (match the case colors) to block them all out. Even the drive activity LED got covered over, at nights when it was going on-and-off it was exteremely annoying.
Now all I see are tiny dull green-yellow or orange spots, not a huge spotlight shining across the room. So I can still see the lights even during the daytime, but they are no longer the equivalent of little spotlights in the darkness.
Did the same thing to the LED on the speaker on the fridge in the kitchen, it was annoying at 2am when going for a glug of milk in the pitch black apartment to be blinded by the LED on it.
Here's a question - why do so few other people in the world use the BRAINS (you know, those huge amazing things that only we humans have) to SOLVE their problems instead of bitching about it all the time? Everyone always seems so supprised whenever I trot out some tiny little thing that I've done to solve a problem or make a job easy. It's not rocket science.
my blue LEDs (Score:3, Informative)
I have exactly two blue LEDs, and I had them easily 3 or 4 years ago when they were "expensive". It's a long story, but suffice to say I've been a fan of LEDs and their different colors and uses since childhood. I have a full-tower Antec case and I've never really been a fan of case-modding (I like beige just fine, thankyouverymuch), but I once happened to see some blue LEDs from the same online store that I bought my CPU fan from and bought a pair on a whim.
I soldered them in, replacing the green and amber power and HDD LEDs respectively, and turned it on. Looking, of course, directly into them. BIG MISTAKE. I felt like I was temporarily blinded for several minutes. The HDD one is not a big deal since it only flashes occasionally and never stays continuously lit for more than a second or two, but the power LED is on ALL THE TIME and if I turn off the lights it can illuminate an entire half of the room all by itself.
Fortunately, the LED bezel in the case directs most of the beam straight ahead, so it hasn't been that big a deal, though I've been tempted more than once to figure out the current and voltage and solder a resistor in series just to tone it down a bit.
LED replacement strategy. (Score:3, Informative)
While I will admit, the fact is that certain colors appear more piercing than others (due to how much they scatter), the power is the real issue. He mentions that he is bothered by RED LEDs, but in reality, Red is the most gentle color there is. Back when I was making my own home-made LED flashlights, I quickly discovered that red is an awful color to use, because it scatters so much that there's very little light left where you are pointing it. Blue worked well, but too well. It's soo powerful that you loose your night vision, and since LEDs weren't as bright as regular bulbs, you needed your night vision, otherwise the LED flashlights were useless.
Green/Amber are the best colors. No loss of night vision, but enough light to iluminate.
I have a solution to this problem though. What we need is an indicator that is not self-lit at all. Back before LEDs, most applications used a colored piece of plastic/metal to indicate status. What we need is something like that, but updated so they can be a drop-in replacement for LEDs.
I'm thinking maybe a tiny canister, with 3 tiny, colored, magnetized ball-bearings. A simple electro-magnet could move any of the 3 to the display window.
So, it would be just as simple as the multi-colored LEDs, extremely low power, and almost as small. As an added bonus, you won't see these status indicators when all the building lights are out, and you WILL be able to see them when it is bright out. If you've ever tried to see if your LED is on while it's in direct sunlight, you know what I'm talking about, and certainly see the advantage of this idea.
Blue LED almost blinded me :P (Score:3, Funny)
Now I like it, because even when I turn the lights off the blue glow of the subwoofer is good reading light.
Re:Why (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Why (Score:5, Interesting)
Individuals deciding what they do and don't like then buying what they like and not what they don't is exactly how markets do normally work.
Re:Why (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why (Score:5, Insightful)
Cause you are not looking hard enough. Get out of the GAP and you might find plenty of denims in normal colors.
Go to Sam's Club (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Why (Score:5, Insightful)
Telling him how to take theproduct apart and replace the led with a different colour one... now that's the kind of answer I like.
Re:Why (Score:5, Funny)
Part 1 - dimming.
1. Go to the hardware shop and pick up some masking tape.
2. Cut a piece sufficiently large to cover the offending LED
3. Place the tape over the LED
4. Repeat from step 2 until the LED is sufficiently dim.
Part 2 - Blocking
1. Go to the hardware shop and pick up a nice hammer drill and a drill bit of similar diameter as the LED
2. Turn the device with the LED off.
3. Drill the shit out of the LED*
*Or, drill the shit out of your eyes. Therefore, removing the need to block any other blue LEDS that you may have on your "look at me I am a techy" gadgets.
Re:Why (Score:3, Informative)
>3. Drill the shit out of the LED*
4. Turn the device back on, and find out if the LED was actually part of an important circuit as well as being an indicator.
Alternate step 3: Use black electrical tape to cover the LED. Peel it back off when you're taking the eBay photos a couple years from now.
Re:Why (Score:5, Informative)
1. Disassemble device
2. Locate offending LED
3. Apply heat (solder iron) and remove LED
4. If so desired, replace it with an LED of different color using the solder iron and resin.
5. Reassemble device
Re:Why (Score:3, Funny)
Ok, most of this time this isn't a problem, but have you see how small some of those LEDs are these days? Most people are inexperianced with their iron and are not willing to drop molten metal inside of their several thousand dollar home theature equipment.
Re:Why (Score:5, Informative)
Blue LEDs typically have a forward voltage greater than standard red/green/yellow ones. If you don't use a correctly-calculated series resistor, a lower voltage LED will receive more current and become a super-high-tech Black LED shortly after powerup.
Re:Why (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why (Score:4, Funny)
Ah, yes, the old "all diodes are light emitting . . . once" rule of electronics.
Re:Why (Score:5, Informative)
And watch your new LED smoulder after a while. Blue LEDs trigger at 3.2 volts as compared to 0.7 volts for red and green LEDs. You also need to place a larger resistance in series with it, which is at best hardto do on a PCB that wasn't designed for it.
I vague recall seeing LEDs with curren-limiting resistances built in though somewhere, so make sure you use one of those.
Re:Why (Score:5, Funny)
7. Profit!
Re:Why (Score:3, Informative)
Wavelength: Minimum @ 400nm (violet). =: lambda1.
Maximum: 800nm (red) =: lambda2.
Energy E=h*f, with f=c/lambda => E=h*c/lambda, voltage difference per electron: U=h*c/(e* lambda).
=> pocket calculator => U_red approx 1.6V, U_blue approx 3.1V.
Resistor for blue LED @ 5V supply voltage, 20mA current: (5-3.1)volts/(20mA) approx 100 ohm.
Current through red led: (5-1.6)volts/(100ohm)=34mA.
34mA through the LED. Most of my LEDs would out of spec. here, but very often, it works! No warr
Paint (Score:5, Informative)
Even a sharpie marker..
Choose a blue color and you can still have your light, at a reduced amount of luminosity..
Re:Why (Score:2)
Except it voids your warrenty. Luckily, the major things I have that don't have blue LEDs either are out of warrenty (IBM Workpad C3 docking station) or have no reason to ever be sent in for warrenty repair (Antec computer case) so I don't have to worry. The power light on my monitor stays green, though. I might put a dab of flat black paint over it, though. No reason to have it, really.
The only blue LED I have any problem with is the one in my center channel speaker. It is crazy bright, and lights up mos
my a mac (Score:2)
Not that mac makes everything But apple does not festoon their products with leds or other distractions. even the look and feel uses color to atrract your eye to points it needs to go. That's one reason the brushed metal look is good despite it's detractors. Compare it to MS fisher price or many of the linux polka dot themes.
Re:Bitch, bitch, bitch (Score:2)
Nah, like you said, he's too lazy. And HERE is where slashdot comes in, with my cottage-industry observation above - let's get someone to offer to "mod" his stuff for him! :)
Re:Bitch, bitch, bitch (Score:2)
Re:Red vs Green (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:the problem is that Industrial Designers LOVE t (Score:5, Interesting)
The attraction is that for many years blue LEDs were nearly impossible to fabricate. Next, they were expensive and inefficient. Next, just expensive. Now, the old problems are gone and they have the highest light output per watt of all LEDs, and they're filling a pent-up demand dating back three decades.
Re:They're so cool. (Score:4, Funny)