this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2024
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This makes me sad in a weird way. Same shit happened with light bulbs.
The lightbulbs thing was (possibly) different. There's some physical limits on the performance of lightbulbs so the time to failure test was more of a proxy to make sure bulbs of a certain wattage were outputting similar strength and color light.
https://youtu.be/zb7Bs98KmnY?si=UQzU-Vn2E01Bs4sm
I don't know if there were other reasons this glass tech didn't catch on besides the obvious capitalism issues, but the lightbulb thing is definitely a misunderstood piece of trivia.
Ha I knew someone would bring up Tech Connections. Both vids feature fascinating science history!
Also has led to a vibrant market for old Pyrex, made with borosilicate before they switched to soda-lime. Borosilicate is generally much more resistant to thermal shock (though there are some advantages to soda lime, but the big reason is that it's cheaper)
I discovered the difference the hard way in college when I shattered a pyrex measuring cup by pouring boiling water into it. Four cups of boiling water and glass shards everywhere!
Look for PYREX, not pyrex. They switched over in the 1990s, but sometimes you can get lucky at thrift stores.