Huh? They're (exactly) as bright as a normal 60 watt filament bulb. I've replaced 75% of my bulbs with Hues and they work perfectly as every-day lighting.
Philips also makes 75 watt-equivalent LEDs, but that's a choice you've always had to make.
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Actually, they really are heavily subsidized in the US. Philips won the US government's green lighting contest with their 75-watt equivalent bulb and now the government subsidizes that one for a couple of years.
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I have a Windows 7 laptop that has both WiFi and Ethernet (shocking, right?). The WiFi joins to my home network and Ethernet is obviously on the work network. A buddy figured out the Lync client API and we wrote a PowerShell script to hook into Lync. The PS script is generic and anything can be put into the Lync events. For example, his script pauses WinAmp when he takes a call and then resumes the music when he hangs up. I put JSON commands into mine so that it sends the Hue controller commands via WiFi. I used to have the lights green and yellow for available and away and red when busy but decided I only wanted them red while I was on a call. The Hue JSON commands are simply HTTP so I also have some hard coded HTML files that control HUE and some standalone PS scripts. There's nothing proprietary in the script so I'll see if he posted it on his blog.
Edit: He did. Here's a link to his blog with the script.
There's a lot of cool stuff out on the Hue forum if you haven't been there yet. Lots of developers doing cool things. I bought a java based program that does all sorts of things.
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Not sensitive at all. Yes, they can be controlled via a browser on the network. You can buy a java based app or simply write your own (or download) HTML. I also control mine with a PowerShell script.
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The lights are 50W equivalent. I light my living room with three which is one more than I really need. I do remember my younger days when I had a 300W torchiere lamp that fried many a bug. It just depends on how much light you want. But these are definitely not nightlights.
They're over 600 lumen, which means they're 60 watt equivalents
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Then you've been pissing away money this whole time, cfls have been dirt cheap for years (buck to a few a bulb) and give the majority of the energy savings provided by a led bulb.
anyway the "armpit of the south" hardly qualifies as the real world.
Statement remains valid
Yeah, CFLs also bring a "healthy" amount of mercury into your home, which, depending on the brand of bulb, can be released as fumes when the bulb heats up and it will pollute your home if you ever drop the bulb. I wouldn't want that around my son, tbh. Also, a CFL has to be replaced 3-4 times more frequently than an LED, which screws up the financial calculations and also renders the environmental advantage moot. Each CFL eventually becomes special waste because of the mercury it contains.
Apart from all that, some CFLs give off more EM radiation than the average mobile phone. Again, wouldn't want that in my son's room.
CFLs were pushed because the governments found out that the ban on classic bulbs came too early for the LEDs to be ready for mass consumption. They're a waste product and between the classic bulb and the CFL, the CFL is the one that should be banned.
