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I love looking at these old To-Do lists. I personally think Edison was a thief and jerkoff BUT I gotta give credit where credit is due for his marketing/busines

I love looking at these old To-Do lists. I personally think Edison was a thief and jerkoff BUT I gotta give credit where credit is due for his marketing/business genius. I really really want to see a to-do list from Nikola Tesla. Really almost ANYTHING from him would be awesome.

cr0sh 10y ago
> I personally think Edison was a thief and jerkoff If you haven't, read some more biographies about the man. You'll discover that things were a bit more complicated than what you may currently believe; above all else, Edison was a businessman who invented, and an inventor who knew business, and saw opportunities where others didn't. That doesn't mean he was a saint - he had and did plenty of things that on retrospect weren't very moral, and questionably illegal. The way he treated his wife and children was terrible - but wasn't out of the norm for the era (unfortunately). And he was a master of taking and expanding on other's ideas and marketing them as his own; you can call that theft - perhaps plagiarism is a better term? - but it isn't anything different than what still happens today. Excusable? No - but again, it's more complex - and Tesla had his own faults. I've found in my reading about both men, that they were both complex characters of their time. The real tragedy, IMHO, is that their individual prides got in the way of the possibility of their mutual cooperation; had they done so, history would likely be much different today.
- terrib1e 10y ago
  I completely agree. My wording was a bit strong and I can see from the downvotes that it was unacceptable. I wasn't trying to be ignorant about Edison. I apologize for that. I'm definitely seeing this from a biased view because of my admiration for Tesla. I'm going to read these books about Edison that everyone is posting. I should probably admire Edison alot more than I do. I carry small notebooks around and do the same thing he did, my flaw is that I 'think' more than I 'do'. Regardless of his method or personality, it really is incredible that Edison created so much. If Tesla had been more like Edison and played the social game more than he did, the world might be a different place but it was it is. I'd love to learn more about Edison and would love some recommendations. Thanks

cr0sh 10y ago

> I personally think Edison was a thief and jerkoff If you haven't, read some more biographies about the man. You'll discover that things were a bit more complicated than what you may currently believe; above all else, Edison was a businessman who invented, and an inventor who knew business, and saw opportunities where others didn't. That doesn't mean he was a saint - he had and did plenty of things that on retrospect weren't very moral, and questionably illegal. The way he treated his wife and children was terrible - but wasn't out of the norm for the era (unfortunately). And he was a master of taking and expanding on other's ideas and marketing them as his own; you can call that theft - perhaps plagiarism is a better term? - but it isn't anything different than what still happens today. Excusable? No - but again, it's more complex - and Tesla had his own faults. I've found in my reading about both men, that they were both complex characters of their time. The real tragedy, IMHO, is that their individual prides got in the way of the possibility of their mutual cooperation; had they done so, history would likely be much different today.

terrib1e 10y ago
I completely agree. My wording was a bit strong and I can see from the downvotes that it was unacceptable. I wasn't trying to be ignorant about Edison. I apologize for that. I'm definitely seeing this from a biased view because of my admiration for Tesla. I'm going to read these books about Edison that everyone is posting. I should probably admire Edison alot more than I do. I carry small notebooks around and do the same thing he did, my flaw is that I 'think' more than I 'do'. Regardless of his method or personality, it really is incredible that Edison created so much. If Tesla had been more like Edison and played the social game more than he did, the world might be a different place but it was it is. I'd love to learn more about Edison and would love some recommendations. Thanks