I found the guy -- it's our DrMal ! -- I had these posts in my email but no location at CPF -- so here they are:
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DrMAL
Member # 948
posted 11-30-2001 09:01 AM
Jake,
Thanks for your interest in out products. We do produce blue and white sets, but the retailers this year chose not to buy them because their cost is (necessarily) higher.
This year was our "pilot" year, and the retailers were very conservative in how much and what kind they bought. As a result, most stores across the country are sold out already. I'm glad you could find some. My two closest RiteAid stores sold out some time ago.
Next year we will offer blues mixed in the multicolor set, as well as all-blues and all-whites. This multicolor set will retail for approximately the same price as the multicolor set this year, since the number of blues involved is pretty small. Due the high demand, we hope that these sets will be available (for more than a week or so) in stores.
Best wishes,
Mark R. Allen, PhD
Fiber Optic Designs
www.foreverbright.com
(
[email protected])
posted 11-30-2001 09:33 AM
All, This is an interesting forum for me to look at, being as I designed these Forever Bright light strings.
A few small points:
(1) The LEDs are not cheapo-s, quite the contrary. We use the best available chips for "reasonable" cost/brightness. This, of course, involves a tradeoff in just how bright (and expensive) people would want (tolerate). I could also bring a $100 set to market, but not many people would buy them. Believe it or not, it took a LOT to get them this low in price (including taking almost no profit)...sob
(2) The "tombstone" or "popsickle" lenses are specially built. The epoxy in them is flameproof and was developed by us. There was no clear, flameproof epoxy on the worldwide market. For this reason, we were actually a whole year late in bringing these sets to you. Our manufacturers screwed up last year, telling us that the previously developed flameproof epoxy was OK for production when, in fact, they built the sets in the lab without telling us. This previous epoxy had a "glass transition temperature" that was too low for mass production (one would have to wait too long to demould them after the first part of the cure).
(3) The sets are hardwired to AC and refresh at 60 Hz as noted. When stationary, this effect cannot be seen. There are actually several advantages to this and it is the basis for one of my patents. First, no transformer is required and hence sets can be connected end-to-end and used outdoors (the transformers prohibit both). Second, the pulsed (sinusoidal) waveform is actually MORE efficient than DC when properly designed. This is proven mathematically in one of my pending patents, and I'll refer you to it when it gets approved in a few months (and hence will be in the open literature).
(3) We didn't try to "fool" anyone with our Candlelight lights. The lights use a yellow chip and a clear lens and are NOT passed off as being anything like white. We offered white this year (at a necessarily higher price) but, it being the pilot year for these sets, the retailers didn't carry them. Since the sets are practically sold out already (after a few weeks on the shelves) we expect the retailers' attitudes to change next year. Personally, I love the candlelights and I have them decorating my patio outside all year long.
(4) Its people like you who help to put new, exciting products like this on the market. Your enthusiasm for the technology is great...and its (obviously) shared by us, who are sick of replacing bulbs (by the way, the replaceable bulbs, with the two extras in the set, is a UL regulation...don't look for anything different until UL changes its safety code to accommodate LEDs). Next year will bring some VERY cool improvements, but you'll have to see then...
Best wishes,
Mark R. Allen, PhD
Fiber Optic Designs
www.foreverbright.com
(
[email protected])
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-- TTL
