RE: Edison

["P.A. Petricone" <pap@tiac.net>]

On Saturday, January 02, 1999 12:43 AM, Brett Glass wrote:

> At 12:25 AM 1/2/99 -0500, Mitch Stone wrote:
>
> >Most? Most of _what_?
>
> Most biographers of Edison.
>
> >I don't recall the electric chair story, but I can't see the relevance.
>
> It's very relevant. Edison was engaging in a PR smear campaign to
> denigrate a solution that was actually superior to his own. (Microsoft
> has done the same numerous times.) He likewise used PR, as Gates did,
> in an attempt to be remembered as a genius and to be given credit for
> inventions that were made not by him but by his staff. Or, in some
> cases, by third parties whom he funded or bought out.
>
> In short, Gates and Edison have more in common than you might realize.
> Take advantage of the holiday weekend to read a good bio of him, and
> you'll see just how deep the similarities run.
>
> --Brett
>

Just a few days ago I was listening to a review of a new Edison bio where 
the author remarked that, in his later years of producing recorded music, 
he prided himself in reviewing every artist before *publishing* their 
works. His hearing was failing steadily and right up to the end, he was 
known to put his head entirely into the phonograph megaphone to assess the 
quality. Beyond that, it was rumored that he sunk his teeth into the frame 
of his audition piano to get a sense of the artist. The author claimed to 
have seen the teethmarks!

That similar tenacity is alarming, no doubt. Check out Cspan Booknotes.


-pap