Joking aside, I do like the clear warning signs they put on them

I really don’t see the point in selling something like this, it actually really annoys me tbh. I mean with LED you have a blank page when it comes to luminaire design, you don’t need any of the features of a traditional fitting. Using a bare spine from an old fluorescent design just to hold retrofit lamps is just lazy and cheap, I’d rather have a fitting designed for LED from the start which is made to make the most of the technology. A proper integrated LED fitting would be 10 times better than this POS tbh.

Agreed. I guess the only reason things like this are for sale is due to the existing machinery being in place, and it's probably cheaper (or a similar price) now to buy a couple of LED tubes rather than buy a HF ballast and a pair of fluorescent tubes ...and of course 99% of people want LED. Sad times we live in, but at least it gives us guys a source for brand new spines for conversions such as the one performed here.

It pisses me off too. I see it loads

But you can look on the flip-side. Fluorescent luminaire production is now finished, Even the likes of the Crompack and the Thorn Pop-Pack are now no longer in production. Buying a fitting like this and then putting your own control gear in it, is now the ONLY way you can buy a new fluorescent fitting. Ok, there's eBay, but if you want a load that match for somewhere, this is now your ONLY option. Also, these are handy where you have to spot-replace a dead fluorescent fitting, at least they then look pretty similar still. At the end of the day, plenty of 'designed for LED' fitings out there if that;s the route you want to go. Finally, this in my opinion, is better than a sealed fitting - at least you can still replace the LED tubes in these!

The designs that took the blank page with LEDs haven't achieved anything great, or remotely usable at all, with the technology. They all are sorry excuses made to look smart - Flat panel luminaires aith 180deg light distribution coming to replace CAT2 with carefully designed reflectors, lens panel lanterns replacing HID lanterns that actually had working optics, and so on. And all of that with non replaceable LED modules (or at least, proprietary form factor that's made only as long as that same luminaire is "supported" by the manufacturer)

The Fluorescent tube and filament GLS form factors are so far the least asinine LED designs out there, simply as they do work with better luminaires (this includes this LPLED) and are replaceable ....

The Thorlux fluorescent ones have a nice bubble diffuser which works really well. Some such as the Emergilite ones have the tubes in the middle with louvers and the arc shapes on each side. They control the light really well and you can't see the bare light source unless you look straight up into them!