Tonite I took note of the new Sylvania commerical featuring the newly introduced e-logic line of mini soft white incandescents. I cringed at that because I know that in Europe the standard GLS lamps have been made in the reduced size for a few years now and that it appears the disease is finally spreading into the USA. So what do you all think?

http://www.sylvania.com/AboutUs/Pressxpress/Mediacenter/OnlineMedia/e-Logic.htm

Not sure what to think...but it seems that a smaller bulb would run hotter with a lot more glare. Possibly another marketing gimmick. My question: will a hotter bulb envelope help the filament life?

Yes the smaller bulbs will run hotter. Imagine a 100 watt bulb in a smaller envelope? Even 100 watt in A-19 is pushing things a bit!. In the old times 100 watt was available in an envelope no smaller than A-23. 100 watt bulbs in A-19 envelopes are too easy to be screwed into fixtures rated for 60w max. Now with the smaller A-17 envelope, maybe they would start using 100 watt bulbs in fridges and ceiling fans? Oh gimme a break! However the smaller bulb isn't an entirely new idea. In the late 1960s Westinghouse introduced the Superbulb krypton bulb in a DC-17 envelope. The smaller glass was touted as a "space saver". I have two of them. One is a 1968 60 watt bulb, the other is an NOS 1973 100 watt. Then in the 1980s Sylvania introduced an A-17 envelope for the 2500 hour Excel-Line. They were made in this glass until the mid 1990s. It remains to be seen if the new smaller size will become the standard in the USA even tho it became the standard in Europe and Asia. You know the USA has different tastes than the rest of the world, so the new smaller envelope may not reach wide acceptance. But who knows? But for me, I'll stick to the trusty A-19 envelope!

Smaller is not always better the life will not be as long and people will use 100 watters in 25 and 40 light fixtures.

I have some of the '80s energy saver A17 lamps, and I don't really like them. They work fine, but I don't like the look of the smaller envelope. I prefer larger lamps for higher wattages. Whenever possible, I special order the 100 watt A21 lamps for that reason. Additionally, some of the fixtures I use are designed for 100 watt A21 or A23 lamps, so the A17 and A19 don't work as well as they could. Its not the width of the envelope but the light center length that is critical in these fixtures. Hopefully the A17 lamps keep the same light center length as A19 lamps. My '80s A17s are narrower, but not shorter, so hopefully the new A17s aren't any shorter.

I just bought some of the 28 watt ones they were bright as the 40 watt incandescents. As for the dimensions the height is the same, the width is narrower and the light center length was the same.

There were some of the smaller lamps here (Israel) (IIRC Tungsram), they were identical to the normal size incandescents in all (incl. light output) except size

Looks like the incandescents sold now are back in the old size

And the incandescents of all sizes here up to 100W appear to be the same ? - i'll check that out