Thomas Edison: Not As Bad As You Think?

[@Guardias]

People want historical figures to be either pure good or pure evil. Far too often we forget that they were human just like us.

[@goyonman9655]

True

[@TheRezro]

In this case it was more that he lived on end of age of romantic inventors, when those were usually credited to singular people. And he opened legit modern lab where many scientist worked in exchange for they patents or as teams. And because law was still imperfect those inventions were credited to him, so when it come out to public attention people start hating him as a thief. When he still was decent inventor on his own merit and most of all successful businessman. Generally only true fuck up he made was his inability to accept that his idea of electricity is flawed and that direct current has no future, what forced him into some caricature events, from which he become known nowadays.

[@maggintons]

Isn't that the just the internet in general?

[@TheRezro]

@@maggintons No. Only teenagers..

[@KnufWons]

Yeah... wait you’re just like Edison?

[@zaedin1]

Time to learn about Thomas Edison from my favourite history teacher, Vladimir Lenin.

[@oldmanmammoth5364]

Share the knowledge comrade!

[@fduranthesee]

lies, he's actually Walter White

[@lorenzo_br5803]

Oh god

[@sherk3286]

CYKA

[@salutic.7544]

Zaedin0001 why am I laughing so hard at this lmfao

[@benpeters5851]

Thomas Edison: I alone will own the movie industry! Disney: Hold my singing teacup

[@HistorywithMrMink]

That's funny! lol

[@emeraldfinder5]

yeah… Disney’s monopoly on the animation industry was definitely something

[@JmKrokY]

True

[@glasscardproductions4736]

@@emeraldfinder5, was? Was?! WAS?! TELL ME, HAS THIS TIMELINE FINALLY GRANTED US MORTALS *A SLIVER OF PERFECTION?!*

[@ChickenGruel]

Thomas Edison: THIS SINGING TEACUP IS MIINE!

[@WAMTAT]

He was a complex human, like everybody else.

[@calebm6485]

alexander williams something I’ve noticed about a lot of people, myself included, is that we like to simplify very complex topics and people into single adjectives, like ‘greedy’ or ‘childish’ when the person in question usually deserves a much more detailed analysis.

[@Baxterbrookies]

He was a douche like most westerners.

[@Christian-vq3lr]

Yeah, just like Wilson, and who would ever shit on him... oh, wait. Ps. Wrong channel, I know, but they’re related.

[@ziggy8253]

He was a dick, like everybody else.

[@oddsdenver9673]

Baxter Brookies He was a douche, like most *people*

[@samcavanagh7993]

wow that bit about film producers moving to LA because of edison is really interesting, never knew that.

[@mysteryman7877]

Should’ve moved further away to escape him. Alaska, ho!

[@dylanmorris7946]

One of the many reasons Hollywood was used as a film destination at the time was so filmmakers could smuggle their films across the border to Mexico in case of an emergency, like say... Edison sending the cops to arrest them for "infringing" on his patents.

[@Filomatia]

Think about the irony: film industry moved to California in order to avoid being charged for using Edison's intelectual property; nowadays its the industry which bitches the most about intelectual property being consumed without payment.

[@MirzaAhmed89]

@@mysteryman7877 Hawaii.

[@Grosvenor77]

@@Filomatia exactly

[@dialaskisel5929]

Sounds like a dude. Not a great dude. But not the worst dude. Except for that whole roasting elephants business. That's pretty low.

[@LisaBowers]

Edison did not electrocute Topsy the elephant. Read this: *"Myth Buster - The Edison Papers"* _Did he have anything to do with the execution of Topsy? The answer is an emphatic “no.”_ edison.rutgers.edu/topsy.htm *"Topsy the Elephant Was a Victim of Her Captors, Not Thomas Edison"* www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/topsy-elephant-was-victim-her-captors-not-really-thomas-edison-180961611/

[@jamestown8398]

The elephant he electrocuted was going to be put down anyway, because it deliberately killed a person during a circus performance.

[@TBustah]

@@bisqkuit Even some of the dogs were part of an experiment he was doing on request from the SPCA to see if electrocution was a humane way of euthanizing animals. They even gave him dogs for this purpose, and he paid kids to collect additional strays for him. Of course, we know now how inhumane it is and we have better ways of doing it, but hindsight is 20/20. At the very least, it was probably better than hanging.

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

I don't see how. In the end it's an animal, and they didn't have the resources we do now.

[@mortal19901001]

I heard he even fried Sloths and was responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs

[@darkmage07070777]

He wasn't a god. Nor was he a devil. He was human. Same as all the rest of us.

[@FrozenDung]

Wow so deep did you get that from Twatter?

[@crunch1757]

darkmage07070777 a human who electrocutes elephants

[@papaversomniferum2365]

He was a dickhead for sure. Yup, there are lots of dickheads around our globr but Edison made a first step.

[@localcrackhead2904]

He tortured animals to try to prove that his inferior system was better. Your average person would probably not do that...

[@noahadams5694]

darkmage07070777 One other thing is for sure he was really really intelligent.

[@spicylatte2165]

Tesla and Edison were both smart and amazing inventors, they both deserve lots of credit for what they did

[@darnit1944]

For the scientific and business community, they are respectable. For normies who based their knowledge on reddit posts, *Tesla good, Edison bad elephats elephants free energy*

[@jamesonbolen9058]

One came up with free flowing energy as Edison created the electric infrastructure we have still today as I'm looking at my $221 electric bill..

[@0x0michael]

@@jamesonbolen9058 AC was invented by Tesla, AC powers your house so that's actually on Tesla. Do some research man. And there's no such thing as free energy

[@Khoros-Mythos]

Except Tesla didn't actually invent anything, he made 1 extremely minor adjustment to an already existing invention. Not to mention he was completely wrong about almost everything in science.

[@Khoros-Mythos]

@@0x0michael That is a flat out lie.

[@kaily9456]

You know I think I was more susceptible to the semi-hate train there is for Edison on the internet before I actually picked up a book. For anyone who hasn't picked up a book I would recommend doing that. A biography always gives you a much more open eye than any articles I read about Edison/Tesla/electricity on the internet. Anyway, the book I read was "Tesla: Inventor of the Modern" by Richard Munson and though it's obviously not an Edison biography, there was a lot about Edison as well as his relationship with Tesla that I never read on the internet. His rivalry with Tesla was petty and their personalities did inherently clash in a lot of ways, but why did no one ever tell me the two of them were actually friends??? Like, exchange-letters-up-to-Edison's-death level friends? After Tesla's lab burnt down and he lost all his work, Edison offered Tesla to use his lab while he got back to work and even though he did electrocute animals for the sake of his own profits, I was still touched by that. Also worth noting....... Edison was not the greediest business titan of the industrial era and I think since he's the most famous people will easily forget that. Not to defend his bad actions. They're still bad, but I really agree with what you're saying here, op. Hearing this and that about him on the internet really doesn't put his character well into perspective. I'd highly recommend anyone watching this video to pick up a good nonfiction book. Tesla: Inventor of the Modern is a decent place to start.

[@megabladechronicles962]

Edison did one thing that I find very interesting. So he and one of his lad assistants exposed themselves to x-rays to see their effects, and as a result Edison's vision was damaged and his assistant suffered from fatal radiation poisoning. However, Edison kept the assistant on his company's payroll until his death, something extremely uncommon for the time period. Say what you want about his capitalist nature, but that's pretty charitable for someone that is often portrayed as a man of greed.

[@fairytaledollpatterns7258]

Where as I have mixed feelings about tesla. The man was smart, but I have no doubt, he was hard to get along with. He fell in love with a bird, and was afraid of fat people. I dont think he was easy to get along with by any stretch of the imagination.

[@kaily9456]

@@fairytaledollpatterns7258 I mean. I know that, I'm talking about a book about him. He was extremely finicky and overly romantic which ultimately caused the long downfall of his career. That's only one facet of his life and character. Not everything about him is flattering. Like I said, pick up a good biography. You don't have to like the person it's about at any point while reading it, but it's a better source for understanding the time, place, choices and life of someone than an article on the internet that says "Tesla was in love with a bird?! 😱" (even that, to some extent, I would argue some people mischaracterize or sensationalize for the point of fascination)

[@wadeguidry6675]

Three very important words you mentioned/ implied: read a book. Thank you.

[@mightisright]

Why does it always have to be Edison V Tesla on the internet? Both people had lives without the other and both did great things. None of you morons (myself included) did anything close to what they did for the world so tread lightly. People who can barely change lightbulbs shouldn't be so cocky.

[@MisterSyrup]

I never understand the demand for ideological purity with historical figures. No one is perfect, and times change.

[@kylepietrusiewicz2749]

This is the calmest Edison comment section I've ever seen, also a pretty fair shake given to the man, unlike a lot of other pieces on Edison which are basically just hit pieces and slander.

[@mafiousbj]

So basically he was the original Steve Jobs, but he actually did some inventing in his youth? I wonder how people will talk about Jobs in a few decades, if his reputation will suffer like Edison´s because he didn´t invent most things directly attributed to him in the popular mind. Anyway grey is not accepted by most people. We want to simplify things and see them either black or white and forget the complexities. This applies to Edison as well as Tesla (better inventor but less charisma/wealth that didn´t let him achieve all his potential)

[@TheRezro]

It already did..

[@TheRibbonRed]

And thanks to his own arrogance, his bad outweigh the good in the public eye once all the truth came out. Shame, but I suppose that's life. If only he didn't get too far of himself and maintained a healthy competition instead of a monopoly.

[@bumblingbureaucrat6110]

Wozniak is the true MVP of Apple.

[@NoNameAtAll2]

Even when Jobs was alive everyone understood that he is an *advertiser*, not an inventor

[@TheRibbonRed]

@@NoNameAtAll2 that's because he and his team are trying to portray himself as an inventor/engineer, no? People have a natural suspicion for a businessman selling new products. But an inventor? Well, that's gonna turn heads around. It did around the times of Edison and it did when Jobs was around. Certainly ain't gonna change if people still doesn't have time or will to research others.

[@richarddavenport6335]

Guy who said the joke: Tesla Guy who said the joke louder: Edison

[@TBustah]

The biggest joke was his idea to provide the country with free power, through means that any electrician can tell you never would have worked.

[@gallyun3363]

@@TBustah read into the ionosphere, I think you may find it intriguing.

[@caesarmatty]

@Guilielmo Primus kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWLXpHp9r5KErZI

[@pranishchhetri777]

The business-savvy corporate who worked day and night to make new inventions: Edison The guy who thought the world revolves around him and would just make up his intentions to later say they were stolen/lost/broken- Tesla

[@thebigdawgj]

@@pranishchhetri777 Counterpoint: No.

[@nicklapallo9090]

I literally went into this video saying "change my mind" and you did. So, he really was more of a profit driven anti hero than the villian he has been made out to be. Neat.

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

And I wouldn't even call him an anti hero.

[@Cendoria]

Also he glossed over the fact Edison had literally nothing to do with the electrocution of Topsy. So Edison is slightly less bad than the video portrays, too.

[@thebigdawgj]

Nah, if you're profit-driven like Edison versus humanity-driven like Tesla, you're the villain.

[@erigor11]

Profit driven assholes are always "villains". Everything would be better without them. We need more Teslas, more Maxwells, more Darwins... we need more (real) bright minds with actual passion for something, not just desire for power/money, a trait that could only reside on weak minds.

[@louisvictor3473]

Profit driven and any kind of hero, yeah totally compatible...

[@danksenzuweed2]

So Edison was the "live long enough to see yourself become the villain" type of guy, did a lot of good, created and helped create a lot for things but ended up becoming greedy and and full of himself.

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

Ok, but because it was a capitalist system, it didn't really hurt anyone else.

[@khangb3]

Yare yare

[@lolmeme69_]

Pretty much.

[@levongevorgyan6789]

No, he was still the hero at the end, even risking his life and limb to study X-rays, and then spending the rest of his time warning everyone about their dangers.

[@mrdoormat6809]

Nah, he's just bussinessman of its time. See, this is example on how people judge others in black and white manners without putting propper context.

[@warrenlehmkuhleii8472]

“He founded a trust...” Roosevelt: Oh no you did not!

[@idioticproductions4000]

Three common quotes of teddy 1.COME HERE TRUSTS, I DONT WANT TO HURT YOU, JUST KILL YOU 2.BULLY! 3.FUCK YOU, WILSON

[@Steampunkkids]

It’s hard to talk about Edison without including JP Morgan. I feel it was a disservice to this video that JP Morgan was not included as I feel he played a pivotal role in Edison’s success.

[@KyoushaPumpItUp]

JP Morgan did a disservice to Tesla so it's fair. An eye for an eye.

[@TheLazySleeperLives]

@@KyoushaPumpItUp JP Morgan also screwed Edison out of his own company

[@JohnSmith-wx9wj]

JP Morgan was the actual devil.

[@Steampunkkids]

John Smith, I couldn’t agree more. J.P. Morgan was the devil. And, everything he touched became corrupt

[@CatobisGaming]

John Smith he pretty much single handily saved the us economy.... not kidding look it up

[@will3346]

Don’t forget about the automatic hammer and six legged chair. Those were both his invention as well.

[@avdoolittle]

based and simpsonpilled

[@jerry3790]

You could say the discussion over Edison is almost as heated as an incandescence light bulb.

[@kolamoose8717]

Jerry Rupprecht 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@fulcrum2951]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXOxqXqQhZlsotU

[@siigull1550]

Almost as heated as those elephants

[@jamiekamihachi3135]

It reminds me of my favorite Civil War general, Sherman. He was just an interestingly complex human with tons of flaws but accomplished a lot.

[@altEFG]

Edison's main flaw was that he was a salty egoist, from what I can gather. He was no doubt very talented, but maybe he could achieve even greater things if he wouldn't let his ego demand that all the glory was his alone.

[@drano9862]

So you're saying he knew what he wanted and would do anything for it? ...So he's chaotic neutral.

[@thomasedwardharrison2879]

Slytherin

[@goldenhorse4823]

Is it? Robbers have the same mindset. Natrual means he would have not do good or bad but just do to benefit him. He did evil so was he

[@HistorywithMrMink]

I've come to believe he has been vilified much more than he should have. Regardless of anyone's opinion, his impact on innovation cannot be overlooked.

[@evilekard]

To be fair, I don't despise Edison because of the way he went about being an actual inventor, I despise him for his shitty business practices. He's not all that different from the robber barons of his time and they weren't cool to me either. Most of it is just the fact that he made every business clash he had personal, I.E. attacking Tesla's character because he had no scientific basis for AC being worse than DC.

[@Xo-3130]

They were still friemds surprisingly enough... well frenimies.

[@jerry3790]

Don’t you despise all business practices Mr Lenin?

[@lolmeme69_]

Oof

[@evilekard]

@@jerry3790 Not particularly no.

[@evilekard]

I would give you a super thought provoking reply about my personal politics or something like that but I'll do you a solid: Communism bad. Free enterprise kinda good. Lenin sorta douche.

[@shiinaai2978]

Thomas Edison: I've made a sound recorder! Everyone Else: It's too fragile! Graham Bell: Here, I make it more durable. Thomas Edison: You've crossed me for the last time!

[@Verrisin]

So, Hollywood came to be, because people wanted to get away from Edison? Now, that's some legacy!

[@mestre12]

No man is perfect. Evryone have a flaw.

[@whoareyou1034]

Haha. I see what you did there.

[@drago5819]

8:38 Imagine spending months on an invention just for people to say “Nice party trick”

[@madalyngragg3623]

Thomas Edison and J Edgar Hoover seem to have similar historical legacies where they were considered heros to the general masses during life, started to get criticized after death or shortly before death, and then had a large hate bandwagon write off any good they did. They were not perfect, no one is, but assuming they were complete monsters shows humanity's unwillingness to accept the grey that makes up the real world.

[@BeyondDaX]

The world still lives in a very absoluteness of black and white. It's all they ever see

[@katherinewiykovics1602]

Best Edison story I know I learned from a worker at the Henry Ford Museum is when Henry Ford made his Greenfield Village (ie he bought up a bunch of famous places like Robert Burns house and the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop and moved them all the way up to Dearborn Michigan) as a celebration of American invention, he included the Menlo Lab. When Ford brought Edison in to view it, he asked his very old friend (there are pictures of the two of them camping in tents together, it's hilarious) what he thought. Edison looked around and said "It's missing something". Ford being the perfectionist was all "What is missing?!", and Edison replied "Not enough dust". Note if you ever make it up to Michigan, that place is ridiculous and is literally a museum of American Invention and consumerism. You won't believe the stuff they got.

[@jason9875]

I’ve been to his workshop in NJ, very cool with all the belt driven machines!

[@lloydkline6946]

Really, wow, historic visit

[@LoganJamesPenn]

Thomas Edison was an innovator who did weird stuff, as was Tesla, I think lots of inventors have been worse than Edison, enjoyable video.

[@flybeep1661]

"Lots of people" I'm assuming you're referring to inventors (engineers, like he was)....so lets hear a few....who were worse. Because you're full of shit if you can't at least name a few.

[@DeadBaron]

An old time Elon Musk.

[@LoganJamesPenn]

@@DeadBaron Edison smoking a pipe, "what if we put light, in a bottle, and you could enslave it"

[@dr.vikyll7466]

@@LoganJamesPenn the light or the bottle?

[@bigslurpee2078]

@@flybeep1661 Lightbulb man bad

[@jamesscott7215]

Historical figure: *does something bad* Living people: yeah they can rot in hell

[@hugofredriksson7041]

Lmao Hitler

[@hicuup2996]

Lmao Stalin

[@stefan6347]

Lmao Washington

[@hicuup2996]

Lmao Mao

[@somkeshav4143]

Lmao Genghis Khan

[@Nosirrbro]

He wasn’t necessarily a bad person, he just was a not at all altruistic person operating as a rational actor within a flawed system beyond his own control.

[@fess3068]

Why do you say this like all systems aren’t flawed?

[@johnkilmartin5101]

He wasn't home schooled because there was no school available or that his parents chose to. He had a problem with self regulation which continued throughout his life.

[@moathalmahroqi]

When everyone was praising Edison, I was praising Tesla, but when the situation was reversed, I found myself on Edison's side again.

[@FengLengshun]

Ah, so he's basically the era's Steve Jobs then.

[@WhaleManMan]

Edison invented a lot of his stuff at first, but as time went on he basically had as much as involvement as an investor would.

[@dexter111344]

Alexander Graham Bell: Hey, I invented something. Edison: Cool, I can use that invention of yours to invent another thing. Bell: I can take your invention and make it better. Edison: So you've chosen death.

[@blacksunshinegaming9315]

My great great grandfather worked for edison, we have family pictures with him and still have some of the early phonograph wax wheels

[@grungeguy97]

Edison's lab in West Orange, NJ is now a National Historical Park. Really interesting place to see his accomplishments up close. When I interned there, I got a sense of just how much he improved the standard of living for the world and helped to industrialize the US in particular. Was he the most ethical guy? Not exactly. His smear campaign against AC (RIP elephants!), active pursuit of forming monopolies (as in the film industry), and taking credit for his employees' work are all stains on his personal character and reflect the Success Gospel school of thought which prevailed in this time. When it comes to evaluating a figure like Edison though, it's best (in my opinion) to do so by focusing on what improvements he made rather than base judgement around today's standards. Also Edison's talking doll is the stuff of nightmares: www.nps.gov/edis/learn/photosmultimedia/hear-edison-talking-doll-sound-recordings.htm

[@hamurabi1066]

you know the elephant thing is a myth, yeah?

[@maxis2k]

Building off of others is fine. It's actually an art in itself. The problem was Edison wouldn't credit the people who helped him. Not even the people in his think tank. We can hate his ego while still marveling at his body of work.

[@darkmyro]

That kinda seems like a common thread with big business men"he didn't attempt to help the world, but somehow did along the way" that being said I think we should celebrate people, but also remember they are people and sometimes make bad decisions. Like just as many bad people have helped the world as good people have hindered it and vice versa.

[@JK-gu3tl]

Oh oh, here comes the Tesla Brigade.

[@allanchon1361]

gud vid. My opinion has been moderated

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

Inventions are completely useless without mass production. Imagine if computers remained the toys of colleges, or if film was the pet of Hollywood. No, true innovation comes through scalability, and Edison played a most important role on that front.

[@TheGuruStud]

out of greed, not b/c he cared about the knowledge or science. He's a piece of shit schmuck.

[@Robotpanda89]

Well no shit dumbass, who’s going to mass produce a product for science. It’s called capitalism, and in his attempt to sell inventions, he spread technology and knowledge

[@TheLazySleeperLives]

@@TheGuruStud Almost all money Edison acquired through his company was invested back into new creations. Edison was the original creator of the R&D department

[@TheGuruStud]

@@TheLazySleeperLives original thief of tech and govt funding. He's a hack. Intelligent, but still a hack

[@G-LukeJA]

@@TheGuruStud every single large scale device is a product of greed and profit. From the bed your sleeping on, to the thing your watching this video. Stop being naive

[@NoahTheNoah]

I had no idea that people thought negatively of Edison I just assumed that the common opinion was that he was a really smart guy…

[@shulkash8799]

Thomas Edison also known has The wizard of Menlo Park The king of patents and lawsuits And the mighty presi-King

[@jacksonbowns1087]

I see you too are a man of culture.

[@moustachepig43]

Slayer of Pachyderms

[@josephgioielli]

And he had his own musical, THE ELECTRIC SUNSHINE MAN. It was ghastly.

[@hoodclassicsofcalifornia]

That original Earth profile picture, I'll never forget that.

[@zman1064]

The good old days

[@fulcrum2951]

F

[@compatriot852]

I really don't understand where the ridiculous vilification of Edison came from

[@cajunguy6502]

Clickbait on the internet. Articles titled things like "10 Facts They Didn't Teach You In History Class" are made to draw you in. And you feel smart, because you learned something that others may not know. But they forgot to tell you why they didn't teach these facts in history class: because they aren't even remotely true. We LOVE a David v Goliath story, we love stories about injustice, because we feel like we are helping just by know "the truth." So a fake narrative you didn't learn in school about 2 well known historical figures that paints one as an altruistic nerd and the other as and megalomaniacal Businessman is going to grow in popular quickly, before anyone has the chance to fact check it.

[@bigearl1624]

He's the Steve jobs of the 20th century

[@CrystalWilliams24]

I literally saw an Edison lightbulb for sale today, and thought, "wasn't he an asshole?" Then I saw this video in my feed.

[@rocker56_]

I heard someone seriously say he wrote the Declaration of Independence Edit:80 likes ok so WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@prouddegenerates9056]

I know a kid that thought Africa was a state

[@prouddegenerates9056]

Part of the US, he also thought the US was the entity of the Americas

[@franks.6547]

Maybe confused with Benjamin Franklin?

[@josephhernandez8810]

Frank S. Ben didn't right the declaration either.

[@nathan3585]

@@josephhernandez8810 ACTUALLLY... Benjamin Franklin did. The three main authors of the declaration of Independence were Thomas Jefferson ( the person this kid probably mistook Edison for), John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. Though there were many more, those three are often regarded as the "fathers" of the DoI

[@thehammurabichode7994]

He has a lot of incredible traits! I just can't get over the whole "taking credit for his employee's inventions" thing. There's no excuse I can think of for that. It's just so hideously unfair to treat someone that way.

[@fifthcolumn388]

He was the Wizard of Menlo Park. He was a great man. Greatness can be evil, noble, or ambivalent, and is often a mix of all three.

[@weird1012]

Where Gorge Westinghouse at?

[@louisduarte8763]

Thanks for this video. All too often, we forget people, including famous and historically important ones, are complex.

[@connormclernon26]

So basically, the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes of opinion

[@bobbyferg9173]

For some reason I am getting a Cave Johnson vibe from Thomas Edison.

[@SaraBearRawr0312]

This is actually a very good point. Many inventors or visionaries are not creating from the ground up but improving on existing technology. Its similar to how Marconi may be credited with the radio but it was based on Teslas concepts.

[@angusmacdonald7187]

Ah yes, welcome to history! First wave: praise! Second wave: condemnation! Third wave: trying to balance... :-)

[@alenasenie6928]

As an electronics engineer student I have to say the problem with DC at that time was that the voltage couldn't be changed so easily so at low voltage the energy decay faster than at high voltage, AC can change voltage just with two wires and that was easy by that time. But DC can change voltage now. It requires transistors and that is why then it has more drawbacks than ac, but now the dc to dc converter is way more efficient than ac to ac and then to dc, we have archived 99% efficiency in dc to dc and since it does not produce capacitive and inductance effects with ground it can be transported underground and underwater, it is needed to connect the world power supply and generate energy where is more convenient now ac is more limited than dc.

[@techguypaul]

He was basically the Steve Jobs of the late 19th/early 20th century.

[@briangonigal3974]

Steve Jobs was the Steve Jobs of the late 20th/early 21st century. Edison was the Jobs of the late 19th century.

[@MickeyD2012]

You're right, he WAS pretty terrible and evil. And both of them stabbed their more capable and successful "friends" in the back.

[@techguypaul]

@@MickeyD2012 lol no, he was neither terrible nor evil. He revolutionized the industry. Jobs was the one who got stabbed in the back when he was first ousted from Apple.

[@MickeyD2012]

@@techguypaul "He revolutionized the industry" Making it cool to fuck the consumer is not revolutionary. At least Edison had the consumer in mind.

[@darnit1944]

@@MickeyD2012 fucked the consumer right? You tell me what has he done to make consumers fucked? Electrocuting elephants is a dick move but not screwing consumers.

[@emmarose4234]

I’m reminded of this little exchange in a LeapPad cartridge, “A Day at Moss Lake”: Sly: “Wow, Buzzy! Leap really saved the day with his jet-saving invention!” Buzzy: “That Leap! He’s a regular Thomas Edison!” Sly: “He’s an English muffin?” Buzzy: “No, Sly! Thomas Edison was an _inventor!_ He invented the lightbulb...and the movie camera!” Sly: “I love movies! Thanks, Mr. Edison!” 🤦‍♀️

[@isamekailmahmud9302]

a hardworking curious guy who was a bit too egoistic and mysteriously charming

[@Tytoalba777]

To quote a fellow internet-goer, "Edison being a dick doesn't change the fact that he genuinely helped innovation. Tesla being an inventor ahead of his time doesn't change the fact that he was crazy." As a side note, I think this is the only praise of Edison I've heard in a decade

[@Jebbtube]

The message I come away from this is that Edison was a self-centered, but intelligent narcissist who was too stubborn to admit when he was wrong, and wanted to keep an iron grip on everything he could.

[@professortalksalot]

Did the eggs hatch?

[@ihatefortnightgivemeareaso5659]

Tomas Edison He sat He wasn’t fat Most importantly he wasn’t laid back

[@ihatefortnightgivemeareaso5659]

Silent Films who said I was a poet

[@sherk3286]

HE ALSO WASN'T BLACK

[@WeezaY5000]

I still feel about Edison how you made me feel about Woodrow Wilson after his video. Tesla is to Edison as Roosevelt is to Wilson. Some alternate reality is having a hell of a time.

[@katel1272]

BREAKING NEWS: Thomas Edison Coughs Twice Within Ten Seconds!!!

[@NAT-mi1ps]

What was the music used in this video, especially the sixth track?

[@DuranmanX]

Thomas Edison was basically the Keiji Inafune of technological innovation. Did more in marketing and selling ideas than coming up with them. And while that's not as romantic, it's certainly as important.

[@jorgeamadosoriaramirez8953]

no one says it wasn't. Except Edison himself. Had he not insisted in taking credit for all the inventions, people wouldn't had a problem with him. At least, not such a big problem as they do now.

[@andremitreuter5397]

Did the eggs hatch though?

[@earthhound]

Thomas Edison! Thomas Edison! Just because you say his name, doesn't mean you're right!

[@earthhound]

@@anonymousperson9735 That could've been a feature length episode where an alternate timeline is created where the world is ruled by Nikola Tesela's head on a steam punk mech.

[@jonathanvillegas4900]

This just comes to show that no person is "perfect."

[@emilygordbort7300]

I feel that Thomas Edison was a good inventor who just got old and stuck in his ways like ford or... really a lot of people

[@SeanFrancisNBallais]

What font was used in the first two seconds (0:00 - ~0:02) of the video?

[@michaellyden2580]

2:12 Fewer*

[@Llamarama100]

35mm film is only a standard because Edison used to buy 70mm film strips from Kodak, then split and spliced it for extra length.

[@thomasturner6980]

Well technically for any invention to happen then you have to use the previous technologies to invent new ones, so your not stealing them your just building on them

[@Crawdithe98]

Rather if this was meant to be taken seriously or not, those are some words of wisdom.

[@jacobraposo730]

So basically give credit to the person that invented fire or the wheel

[@ricefarmer8553]

@@jacobraposo730 No give the credit to mother nature

[@darnit1944]

Exactly, there is no such thing as stole technology.

[@LessonsInLife]

Thomas Edison had 1,093 patents registered to his name more than any other person in history! And while he most certainly deserves a place of honor in the science hall of fame, he also deserves honorary membership in the “failure hall of fame” for the tens of thousands of experiments he conducted that failed. Edison himself, however, did not see these experiments as failures. When he was working on one of his inventions, a storage battery, someone pointed out to him that he had failed ten thousand times. “I have not failed,” responded Edison, “I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.” Recognizing the real path to his accomplishments, Edison remarked, “I failed my way to success.” I want to share this with everyone, I read from book ;)

[@Gunbladefire]

eh, a few good deeds doesn't absolve someone for being a corrupt person. Especially with over the course of their life doing less for others and becoming more about profit than peoples lives.

[@traveller7552]

Marc Loui Rivero “Andrew Jackson” “local bully” idk what I should use then

[@zephyr8072]

Chuds:”Edison was worse than Hitler! He used his wealth to steal other people’s ideas and pass them off as his own!” Also chuds: “I love Elon Musk, he’s the world’s greatest innovator by using his wealth to steal other people’s ideas and pass them off as his own.”

[@fakename105]

Every time I talk shit about a historical figure, like Columbus or Edison, somebody makes a video about how he wasn't that bad 3 days later. An I reverse psycic?

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

Columbus thought that the Earth was 1/3rd the size the ancient Greeks mathematically (and very accurately) calculated it to be and didn't believe there could be another continent beyond Europe, Africa, and Asia, unlike the Greeks who postulated that because of the _sheer size_ of the planet, there had to be another continent out there. The guy really gets far more credit than he deserves.

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

As for you being a reverse Psychic, I'd be willing to put money on that. Stranger things have occurred. Much stranger.

[@the_big_boogaloo_man946]

@@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447 He didn't think the world was one-third the size the ancient Greeks measured, Toscanelli, the great Cartography of Europe at the time, the person Columbus based his calculations on, believed Asia was much larger than it actually was.

[@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447]

@@the_big_boogaloo_man946 My mistake.

[@the_big_boogaloo_man946]

@@oneofmanyparadoxfans5447 Keine Problem, Columbus is such a controversial subject in modern day that honestly anybody can make a claim about him

[@Docwilson91]

To put it bluntly, there’s a reason that a town in New Jersey is called Edison and not Tesla.

[@PhilipJackson03]

Thomas Edison is a great case of how to treat a historical figure objectively and not lean into the narrative. He was a man who did many great things but should not be absolved from the shitty behaviour and business practices he was known for. He was a mixed bag and that goes for a lot of other historical figures too.

[@DanTheYoutubeAddict]

Edison, like all people, should be seen as a morally grey individual. None of us are completely good or completely evil (though some people through out history have gotten very close to one end of the spectrum).

[@Justin_Joy]

"he came off as an everyman with a sense of humor" This part reminds me of Elon Musk.

[@lukeevans6332]

Where did you get the video of the robotic hand?

[@chrisgurney2467]

Joseph Swan invented and patented the first practical incandescent light bulb before Edison

[@JustMe-cs9ku]

That one only lasted 13 hours

[@TBustah]

To be fair, the most famous of those animal executions (Topsy, an elephant) was of an animal that had killed three people in three separate incidents. It wasn’t some sadistic experiment he was doing for the lulz: she HAD to be put down, and it's questionable how much pain she experienced or how much of a factor the electricity played, as they heavily dosed her with poison before the event. Even some of the dogs he zapped were part of an experiment to see if electrocution was a humane way of euthanizing animals, and many of them were provided to him by the SPCA for this purpose. Of course, we know now how inhumane electrocution is, but hindsight is 20/20.

[@Evzone1821]

He was an off brand Nikola Tesla.

[@levongevorgyan6789]

He was an INSPIRATION to Tesla.

[@darnit1944]

He was bringing cheaper electronics to the household. I respect both Edison and Tesla as the greatest men of the late 19th to early 20th century. And you just read Twitter and reddit post for your knowledge.

[@Alfarius20]

TL;DR he wasn't the inventor he sold himself as, he was too egotistical to accept he wasn't the best inventor and was willing to throw shade at better products because of it. Overall a shoddy scientists but a great businessman. Now the question is whether we should credit or not the marketeers and investors with creations that aren't their own but need them to achieve success

[@이동연-c6d]

He is not a greatest inventor. But he was a greatest business man ever lived. Instead, Nichola Tesla was the greatest inventor ever lived.

[@mondodimotori]

Just a note: Bell didn't invent the telepghone. Meucci invented it, Bell just perfectioned it and widespread the tecnology in the US.

[@efstrix]

isn't ironic that edison dream (that every house should have their own electricity generator and every person a electric car) is fulfilled 100 years later by a company called tesla

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

o h

[@daveholland6293]

no?

[@ErickOberholtzer]

As a member of the uninformed public, you have now completely changed my opinion on this subject! I will make no further attempt at continued research, and will now tell people at the fancy cocktail parties I --- definitely -- attend, this in an attempt to stroke my ego and the opposite sex. Thumbs up.

[@lizerdspherex]

Funny how we've gone back to looking into a box at a small screen as a means of novelty entertainment. Albeit in a more mobile form.

[@christiangreen2324]

Where did he get the music for this video I like it