It’s not exactly proof of character but it’s pretty easy to verify that Edison’s patent of DC Electricity was NOT novel or new as a concept but did allow him to create a monopoly and massively enrich himself while also increasing costs on the average person of his time.
This is lended to by the fact that in children’s books and schools in the USA Edison was portrayed as some magical fictional character who tied a key to a kite to invent electricity. Clearly there is a campaign made to make him look like the hero he isn’t.
But it doesn’t stop there, Edison had many patents that almost all built on the works of others going back decades, although I do think that he did more work than he stole on audio recording and transmitting, but he also patented the Telegraph like a hundred times even though the Cook and Wheatstone Electric Telegraph existed over 50 years earlier: a time before Edison was even born.
He was an OK inventor but he was a cutthroat businessman.
yunxiaoli@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Here’s an introduction to Thomas Edison, theconversation.com/thomas-edison-visionary-geniu…
It has actual sources, and isn’t a 4.5 hour sponsored video from whatever estate is trying to do PR for the name Edison.
hakase@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Uh, the tiny amount of info in that article is also in the video I linked - that Edison wasn’t a single-minded visionary, but rather a ridiculously hard worker who worked collectively with his employees to create inventions scientifically.
The video also goes into detail about how he crafted a public persona to make sure his shop continued to have access to funding to keep up his inventing.
Nothing in that article impugns Edison’s name whatsoever, so, combined with your posting history, I think we’re done here.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 months ago
Doesn’t that the site get a lot of flak though?