I also hate the CFL bulbs. I've never had one last 6 years or however long they claim they're supposed to last; they take too long to warm up and get bright; and they contain mercury.
The bummer part is, the federal government has essentially made manufacturing incandescent bulbs illegal. January 1st marked the end of a seven-year effort to outlaw the ordinary lightbulb, thanks to a 2007 law that raised minimum efficiency standards for traditional incandescent bulbs far beyond what the technology can manage. 40W bulbs must draw just 10.5W, and 60W bulbs 11W. The result is the same: Incandescents simply can’t keep up with compact fluorescent (CFL) and newer LED bulbs.
First the 100 watt and 75 watt bulbs were discontinued. Now it's the 60 watt and 40 watt. Funny thing is, a couple of months ago I was stocking up on incandescent bulbs, and while the 100W and 75W bulbs were gone, there was a nice fat section of 200W bulbs sitting there on the shelf! That makes no sense to me at all.
The federal government is taking decisions out of the hands of families and businesses, destroying jobs, and restricting consumer choice in the market. We all have a wide variety of preferences regarding light bulbs. It is not the role of the federal government to override those preferences with what it believes is in our best interest.
Ten years ago, some insisted we discontinue using (renewable and compostable) paper grocery bags in favor of plastic bags. Look where that got us. Some day we will be sorry about the amount of mercury that will leach into our soil and water.