4 ms·

I agree with "Harrison Bergeron"'s message but Edison was a corrupt, greedy, egotistical, complete asshole. We would be much better off with less of his type a

• akkartik 18y ago
  The title was subtle karma whoring (http://paulgraham.com/gh.html http://paulgraham.com/gh.html)
  • kirubakaran 18y ago
    FYI... Didn't find it subtle at all.
    • akkartik 18y ago
      :)
• lsc 18y ago
  really? While I agree that Tesla was much more of a genius (and that Edison did both himself and the world a disfavor by not putting up with him) I do think there is a place in the world for Edisons. (though I think they need to be careful to treat their Teslas well.) Tesla, while brilliant, was also kindof crazy, and from what I understand, had poor human and business skills. He died penniless, and getting funding for his work was always a problem. (a travesty, I think, after his early successes.) The optimal solution, I think, would have been for Edison to keep his ego in check (at least around Tesla) - I bet if Edison had handled the situation better, and managed to keep Tesla happier working for him, Tesla would have had a much more productive life. I mean, If you are lucky enough to have a Tesla, and he gives you something as awesome as AC, I'd set aside a portion of the resulting money for his future projects. Buy him a lab and some assistants (and whatever else he wanted) and let him focus on his next idea, rather than on trying to get funding. Edison could have done this... From what I understand that was kindof his business model, only he failed to keep Tesla happy.