Mark Lien’s June column in LD+A, “Forces of Change,” examines how LED technology is disrupting the lighting industry in six steps, and what we should do about it.
My concern for lighting is that quality is already being further compromised by demonetization. Dematerialization may ultimately be controlled by Internet and telecom companies and/or trades integrating SSL into their products. They do not understand our quality concerns, making them more willing to trade them off for convenience and lower prices. This will expand market penetration, but at the price of the quality lighted environment, customer satisfaction, productivity and health. As precedent dictates, these quality losses may be incremental and not initially considered or understood by users.
Our lighting community must be vigilant and vocal, engaging and informing outsiders on the consequences of their lighting choices. If you are reading this, then you are the lighting community. The six-stage process reveals an urgency. The exponential effect of all of us engaging, advocating and creating awareness about the quality of our lighted environments is not just timely and in our best interests, it is our responsibility. If not us, who?