4 ms·

I thought Edison had mostly been dismissed as not even remotely as great an inventor as most people thought he was?

• throwaway7767 11y ago
  He was a businessman, who hired people to invent things. He was certainly useful, but it's always been surprising to me how much credit he got for inventing things.
  • gohrt 11y ago
    Capitalism and Personal Branding at its finest.
• CPLX 11y ago
  To a tiny universe of Reddit/XKCD readers perhaps. In the rest of the world, for example at the offices of Con Edison, or in the city of Edison, New Jersey, he's still considered to be somewhat important.
  • Nadya 11y ago
    Don't forget The Oatmeal readers! [0] There's a billion and one things one could mention about Tesla. Sadly, only the tiny universe of people who dislike Edison (and see him as a businessman, not an inventor) are aware of Tesla's contributions. [0] http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla
    • CPLX 11y ago
      Whoops. In my head that while Tesla rant was an XKCD thing.
    • pluma 11y ago
      In a way, Edison is a very American inventor. His skill wasn't in craft or science, his skill was in sales and turning a profit.