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Post by clocketpatch on Dec 6, 2008 5:48:51 GMT
I remember reading once that Thomas Edison bought the patent for the lightbulb (for a pitance) from two immpoverish Toronto inventers, then perfected it and marketed it like the idea was his own.
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Post by merrythemad on Dec 6, 2008 15:09:05 GMT
*cries* yes, yes it's all true! Edison was a genius but his true gift lay in social engineering (read grifting, or conning) although he was brilliant in science and the like as well.
"It's all true, God is an astronaut, Oz is over the rainbow and Midian is where the monsters are."
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Post by jjpor on Dec 7, 2008 0:30:11 GMT
Yeah, Edison basically ran a sweatshop for poor immigrant inventors, giving them the money they needed to develop their ideas in return for the patent rights. Made business sense, and made Edison rich, but some (Tesla, for instance) were a bit bitter about the arrangement. Tesla was a visionary and a genius, but he made mortal enemies easily, and Edison became one of these.
So, Tesla took off and started working for Edison's business rival, George Westinghouse, which led to the "current wars", where Edison and Tesla/Westinghouse tried to peddle rival systems of electricity generation. Edison tried to demonstrate that Westinghouse's system was unsafe by using it to electrocute various animals in public demonstrations. This apparently resulted in Edison electrocuting an elephant in Madison Square Garden before a paying audience. The Governor of New York was so impressed by the demonstration that he got Edison to build him the world's first electric chair "as a humane alternative to hanging"... Seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up!
Aldy, have you seen the film "The Prestige?" I only mention it, because it's the only film I can think of that has Tesla as a character - it amusingly references his emnity with Edison, too. It's a pretty cool film generally, actually, and the novel it's based on is even better. There's also a comic book called "The Five Fists of Science", which I haven't read, but which apparently features Tesla teaming up with Mark Twain (who was his bud in real life, I seem to remember) to battle Edison and various turn of the century robber barons like Morgan and Westinghouse, with all sorts of steampunky technology. I don't know about you, but that sounds as cool as all get-out to me.
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Post by Aldebaran on Dec 7, 2008 8:22:43 GMT
Yeah, Edison basically ran a sweatshop for poor immigrant inventors, giving them the money they needed to develop their ideas in return for the patent rights. Made business sense, and made Edison rich, but some (Tesla, for instance) were a bit bitter about the arrangement. Tesla was a visionary and a genius, but he made mortal enemies easily, and Edison became one of these. Like I've said before, marketing is a useful skill. Mind you, it usually takes some callousness to make it work, but it works all the same. Much to the dismay of quazi-socialist pacifists like myself. Amusing story, isn't it? What makes it even better is that he tried using direct current for his first model, and Tesla had to correct him AGAIN on the very same technology used to thwart him. Tesla had to pick up Edison's dropped balls on several similar occasions. I have, and I loved it. Check your PMs, Jjpor. I sent you a realy good movie about the life of Tesla bookmarked on youtube. (It must have been made in Europe or something because hardly anyone knows about it .) It's based on the book "Tesla: Man Out of Time", which I own, love, and recommend to anyone who likes Tesla and wants to learn more about him. This, I must see. Have you heard the funny but true story of where Tesla makes Mark Twain... erm... suddenly and unexpectedly release his bowels?
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Post by jjpor on Dec 7, 2008 22:50:24 GMT
Tesla had to pick up Edison's dropped balls on several similar occasions. And even then... I won't share the details here, but the first time they actually tried to execute someone using "Old Sparky", the results were, well...horrific. Moreso than they expected, anyway. Yes, the thing about Mark Twain losing control of his, er, movements, is something I'd heard about and is kind of amusing. Thanks for the link, too; I'll have to peruse that when I get the chance.
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Post by Aldebaran on Dec 8, 2008 2:22:41 GMT
Yeah, a "not-so-painful death after all". While we're all having this lovely chat about Tesla, I'm working on getting a Children's Book published called "A Tesla Christmas". It's written in poetic rhyme as a tribute to his love of poetry. (After all, Tesla came to America with just 4 cents and a book of poems.) I'm going to send the text to the Tesla Memorial Society in New York to see if I can get a grant for it. After all, they WANT to spread the word about Tesla, and what better way to do it then with a children's book? Hook 'em while they're young. This is a prototype for some of the artwork I'd be using in the book. I drew and edited it it myself. It's a little clunky, but it's a prototype.
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Anastasia
UNIT Red Shirt
Time Ladies know better.
Posts: 131
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Post by Anastasia on Dec 11, 2008 3:27:38 GMT
Whoa! So much awesome on one page! Slow down! Okay... 1. I LOVED the Prestige. I own the movie, and I never get sick of it no matter how many times I watch it. Not only because Tesla is in it, but because the movie is awesome. (I wanted to be a magician when I was little... I still sorta do.) 2. Edison was a jerkbag. He stole EVERYONE'S patents. Not just Tesla. 3. Tesla... words cannot even begin to elaborate on how AWESOME he was. He had a 'stache equal to that of the brig, and his inventions were WAY ahead of his time. (Though, you could argue that the rest of us were BEHIND our time. Victorians were weird like that. Some, like Tesla, were true visionaries, while others still lived in Amish Country.) 4. I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUR DRAWING, ALDY!!! 6. Good luck with the story. Do you have a copy I could read?
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schrodinger
Cyberman
avatar amde by minami from deviantart
Posts: 299
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Post by schrodinger on Dec 11, 2008 3:34:29 GMT
We have a few copies but aldy has them. And I love the prestige, and Tesla. I Almost made one of his machines for the science fair at school once. But they counted controlled lightning a fire hazard.
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Anastasia
UNIT Red Shirt
Time Ladies know better.
Posts: 131
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Post by Anastasia on Dec 11, 2008 4:35:23 GMT
Fire hazard my ass. You should've gone and done it anyway. Like, shut off all the lights and LIGHTNING CASCADE the whole auditorium! Then walk through it all like Tesla does in the movie.
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Post by clocketpatch on Dec 11, 2008 4:54:42 GMT
Now I want to see this movie. Really, really want to see it.
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Post by jjpor on Dec 11, 2008 23:20:42 GMT
Now I want to see this movie. Really, really want to see it. It's pretty good - and probably best if you see it without knowing too much about it, because the twist at the end is pretty stunning. Unfortunately, I had read the novel by Christopher Priest before I ever saw the movie - but I still greatly enjoyed it. The novel is also very good, if very different from the film (just similar enough to spoil me for the twist ending ;D) and also worth checking out.
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schrodinger
Cyberman
avatar amde by minami from deviantart
Posts: 299
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Post by schrodinger on Dec 12, 2008 4:27:53 GMT
Fire hazard my bum. You should've gone and done it anyway. Like, shut off all the lights and LIGHTNING CASCADE the whole auditorium! Then walk through it all like Tesla does in the movie. I should of done that. But our science fair only gives each student about one meter of space in the cafeteria, so I would only have a small bits of lightning. But it would scare all of the Teachers to death. It would be even funnier to shout FIRE HAZARDS ARE FUN really loud while the show is going on. There is a novel, Jjpor? I should find it.
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