This has always been a burning question in my head. Especially with the rise of LED and whatever comes after. It seems like there will be less and less options to choose from in terms of interesting technologies to actually collect... Or maybe I'm wrong? I know that SOX will probably become super rare in the future. Probably the same with oddball stuff.

Well , if you look back at some of the posts from the early dates of LG , everyone was crying that HPS with it's "horrible yellow light" was exterminating all of the MV's and destroying the streetlight hobby. Now , everyone's saying the same thing about LED VS. HPS !

Yeah, back when I first joined, HPS, CFL and T8 were the derided tech and now it's shifted to LED. TBH I'm not sure where lighting will end up in 50 years, funny since 50 years ago, a lot of lighting tech we still use was already available like MV, HPS, MH, fluorescent, incandescent, and halogen.

Well , if you look back at some of the posts from the early dates of LG , everyone was crying that HPS with it's "horrible yellow light" was exterminating all of the MV's and destroying the streetlight hobby. Now , everyone's saying the same thing about LED VS. HPS !

Yeah, I saw that in some older posts and comments! It’s weird.  Ever since I was a little kid, when I didn’t even know what it was, HPS has always been my favorite light source.

I wonder if when a newer technology comes and becomes popular LEDs will start to be less hated and collected, just like CFLs, T8s and HPS. The thing is that a big part of the LEDs today are crap, so probably the incoming technology is even worse. 

I don't see anything wrong with HPS, and I like them, they are HID after all. Same with T8s. I don't like CFLs and T5s much but I still collect them.

Yeah, I've seen the comments from 10 years ago saying that the fixture got replaced with the crappy HPS, and today we see those comments like "what the frick are you saying". 

I get the feeling that whatever comes after LED is going to be just as uninteresting and boring as it, if not more. Preserved stuff is only going to still exist in the collections of enthusiasts, except for the extremely rare instance in which an old light or case of lamps is found hidden away somewhere. It will also probably be difficult if not impossible to get replacement lamps for HID fixtures, I'd imagine fluorescents will stick around for a bit longer though. Things like neon sign benders might remain as a niche of hobbyists.

I'm not very optimistic of the future for us lighting enthusiasts. I kind of feel bad for all the future lighting enthusiasts born within the past few years who probably won't even be able to remember a pre-LED world. I used to be salty about the fact that I never got to see widespread mercury street lighting in use. If I had a time machine I'd go back and slap myself.

Well , if you look back at some of the posts from the early dates of LG , everyone was crying that HPS with it's "horrible yellow light" was exterminating all of the MV's and destroying the streetlight hobby. Now , everyone's saying the same thing about LED VS. HPS !

I know right, I just love looking through posts of people complaining about HPS from the 2000s/early 10s and I'm like "Man, you guys had no idea".  I actually really like HPS now, maybe even a bit more than mercury vapor. (I know, HOW DARE I say that!  )

In like 50-100 years from now, HID lighting might become pure unobtainium in the same way that carbon arc lamps and fixtures  are today due to HID bulb, fixture, and ballast bans in favor of LED.

In a 100 years time I reckon lighting will be some form of fission powered devices that won’t even need electricity?, for the next 50 though, I think semiconductors will be still here and constantly improving, you only have to look at how far they have come in the last 10 years.
As for fluorescent and HID, I’d be surprised if their all not totally gone by 2025?

Personally, I dread to think. Part of me is glad I won't be here to see it 

I honestly think that LED will have taken over in 50 or 100 years, if it hasn’t already. 
The only remaining HID lamps will be safe in lighting enthusiast’s collections, or in use in some forgotten place. In average households, the only non-LED will be an oven lamp, unless they somehow make fireproof LED lamps by then.

My guess is that Incandescent and HID lights will become SUPER rare and LED and whatever follows will start to become collectible. It’s already happened with the Carbon arc street lights, none are in use any more and few are in collector’s possessions.

My hope is that people will be collecting HID lamps with as much passion as some of our members show for the early incandescents now. 

Im trying to be optimistic, but i fell like the rise of L*D's will kill off any avenues of acquiring other lamps and then making the price of lamps we want skyrocket. And the fact of that pesky little thing called death, some members  who have passed on may have there collections end up in the wrong hands.

At some home retail stores there is still a vast variety of bulbs mainly fluorescent, halogen and LED, but are being eaten away by LEDs, so I'll need to hurry up pick up some bulbs. What light bulbs are available at your local stores?

Yeah, you can already see the effects of LED from the shrinking availablilty of traditional lighting products, especially the more obscure lines from the last 5-6 years to now. The more recently discontinued products are still available on the secondary market like eBay but how much longer until it becomes rare/expensive on eBay, especially the obscure stuff. You can already see it with T17 and PG17 lamps which were discontinued 6-7 years ago and are very hard to find and expensive now. More common stuff like magnetic T12 ballasts, discontinued in 2010 are still reasonably priced and common.

At the stores, most still sell some incandescent, a decent selection of fluorescent, LED, halogen and one or two HID types/wattages.