CdS cells have
quite a few problems that have made them obsolete for 
 I don;t disagree that there are other devices that have advantages in
 many applciaitons, and it's entirely reasonable to then use said
 other
 devices. But thee CdS photoresisto also has an advantage -- it's a
 resistor. At a constnat ligjht level, the I-V characteristic is
 pretty
 darn lienar. That makes it ideal for the sort of amplitude-control
 application that we've been discussisng
 
 
 Indeed. They are probably perfectly good for photometric applications
 too, where it doesn't matter if it takes some time for the cell to
 adjust to the illumination.
 And as far as environmental issues are concerned, it would certainly be
 much better to get rid of CFLs. There has actually been some coverage in
 the news here about CFLs being thrown in glass recycling containers
 instead of being handed in as toxic waste (there are reasonably easily
 accessible places that accept toxic waste everyhere here as well, but
 nowhere near as many or as accessible as glass recycling containers) and
 causing problems at the recycling plants. LED lighting is being promoted
 instead. So far, there has been no discussion about environmental issues
 with semiconductor manufacturing...
 /Jonas