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It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

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Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#161

Post by AlexCoventry »

metadat wrote: post #156

Amazing and inspiring story about perseverance and never giving up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/595d3fb837c581... Though it is incredibly frustrating how ungrateful Nichia Corp was to Mr. Nakamura, the underdog who pushed through every obstacle to ultimately give them the vehicle for more than 65% of their revenue! People like the Nichia CEO at the time, a nephew who inherited the business nepotism-…

I think it was narcissism. Nakamura ignored direct orders to desist for years, and wound up proving that those orders were massive strategic blunders. So insubordination combined with making his superior look a fool. (On the other hand it's pretty clear we're only getting Nakamura's side of the story.)

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#162

Post by metadat »

AlexCoventry wrote: post #161
metadat wrote: post #156

Amazing and inspiring story about perseverance and never giving up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/595d3fb837c581... Though it is incredibly frustrating how ungrateful Nichia Corp was to Mr. Nakamura, the underdog who pushed through every obstacle to ultimately give them the vehicle for more than 65% of their revenue! People like the Nichia CEO at the time, a nephew who inherited the business nepotism-…

I think it was narcissism. Nakamura ignored direct orders to desist for years, and wound up proving that those orders were massive strategic blunders. So insubordination combined with making his superior look a fool. (On the other hand it's pretty clear we're only getting Nakamura's side of the story.)

I'm totally with you, but what's the other guys story going to be?

"This weird researcher wouldn't follow orders, and I didn't dig deeper to understand his level of commitment or anything. If I had, I would've at least seen his level of dedication and possibly rallied to support him."

That's the best possible version, and highly unlikely since, as you noted, narcissism.

Anytime I see someone intelligently committed to a cause the way Nakamura was, I respect it and will support them however I can. Even if it doesn't pan out, it's still a good story.

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#164

Post by abh123 »

metadat wrote: post #162
AlexCoventry wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was narcissism. Nakamura ignored direct orders to desist for years, and wound up proving that those orders were massive strategic blunders. So insubordination combined with making his superior look a fool. (On the other hand it's pretty clear we're only getting Nakamura's side of the story.)

I'm totally with you, but what's the other guys story going to be? "This weird researcher wouldn't follow orders, and I didn't dig deeper to understand his level of commitment or anything. If I had, I would've at least seen his level of dedication and possibly rallied to support him." That's the best possible version, and highly unlikely since, as you noted, narcissism. Anytime I see someone intelligently committed t…

A counter argument is that they paid his salary for all those years, they paid for his lab, for his machines etc. They don't owe him a job.

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#165

Post by brigadier132 »

Draiken wrote: post #53

It's incredible to see with cases like this how extremely absurd the relationship of capital and labor is. If I was someone aspiring to be a researcher, I'd most definitely give up due to stories like this. The person created probably close to trillions of value to humanity (his LEDs spawned multiple new industries), yet he was compensated less than what I make with web development. Meanwhile the CEO and other busine…

Wow, I had the completely opposite interpretation. The only reason this thing got created was because one rich person bet $3 million dollars on this researcher. There would have been zero chance of this research ever getting funded outside of capitalism.

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#166

Post by Eisenstein »

DenisM wrote: post #151
graphe wrote: post #110

Nichia still makes the best color LEDs. Semi-recently they made a UV free LED for artworks.

I thought all LEDs are uv-free, except those specifically designed for UV?

"The results of this testing (explained below in further detail) show significant health risks from some of Cree LED’s visible light LED components when viewed without diffusers or secondary optical devices. These risks warrant an advisory notice to indicate the potential for eye injury caused by prolonged viewing of blue light from these devices."

* https://cree-led.com/media/documents/XLamp_EyeSafety.pdf

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#167

Post by pqdbr »

willis936 wrote: post #145

The first ten minutes is the best explanation of conductors, insulators, and semiconductors I’ve seen. The rest is a gripping human story with science sprinkled in. The maker / experimentalist spirit strongly resonates with me. There’s a line at the end for climate change and fusion folks. This video is to adult me what Back to the Future was to kid me: it has it all.

Kudos for mentioning Back to the Future. When I was 8/10 yo, I could recite all the lines from the first movie up to 15 min or something. I really, really loved it.

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#168

Post by djmips »

junon wrote: post #51
vardump wrote: post #2

Assuming everything is reported fairly, I really can't imagine being Nichia's customer. Ever. Sacking and not compensating the employee that single-handedly made Nichia successful by inventing a working blue LED and saving Nichia from bankruptcy is just not acceptable.

Totally. I actually went to check mouser to see if they had nichia brand stuff - a few odds and ends but they're not even listed on the manufacturer list for LEDs. Will watch out for them and avoid whenever possible from now on.

I feel like the engineer who invented the blue LED would not want this story to cause a boycott of Nichia despite their treatment of him.

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#169

Post by graphe »

DenisM wrote: post #151
graphe wrote: post #110

Nichia still makes the best color LEDs. Semi-recently they made a UV free LED for artworks.

I thought all LEDs are uv-free, except those specifically designed for UV?

No, if you didn't watch the video I'll tl;Dr it.

Phosphors glow when they're lit with UV light. LEDs don't make a lot of UV light but it's significant enough for art studios to change to these high CRI LEDs so that the UV doesn't cause it damage over time.

Re: It was almost impossible to make the blue LED [video]

#170

Post by k_roy »

tekla wrote: post #42
k_roy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and tape falls off, can impede functionality depending on the device, etc

> tape falls off So re-apply it when it falls off after 5 years > can impede functionality Give me an example where covering up a blue LED impedes functionality.

An example?

https://www.belkin.com/magnetic-portable-wireless-charger-pa...

The offending LED is the black spot in this picture:

https://www.belkin.com/dw/image/v2/BGBH_PRD/on/demandware.st...

Look no further than that. Note, I have the black one from Amazon, and it's no longer for sale, so maybe they realized the mess-up.

It's been my charger for iPhone current-gen since July of this last year and it's horrible.

The LED on this thing is not EXACTLY blue, but it's birthed of the exact same hellhole, and close enough in general color to count.

So let's walk through this:

1. It's piercingly bright in the exact perfect shade of light that you can't help but notice everywhere in a dark room.

2. It's designed in a way that projects that thing across the room like a spotlight.

3. The light comes out of a silly small surface on an inconvenient placed spot on the edge of the shell. Meaning electrical tape lasts about 5 minutes.

3. I'm not a stranger to cracking things opens, but with this thing is hermetically sealed, I haven't been brave enougth to do it yet.

I tried to just shove a needle in there to short out the LED, but it's probably some kind of surface mount and I couldn't hit it.

Alternatives to cracking it open have been stuffing like 4 inches of electrical tape in the hole with a dental pick/needle, and then covering it up with more tape to seal it in. This took a while, but it also lasted at least two months. But again, not permanent.

The point is, anything that could potentially be primarily be used in a bedroom, shouldn't be a cool light.

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