I enjoyed the documentary on Edison. It seemed to go over his life as an inventor quite well, and gave me a better idea of the role he played in the electrification of the United States. I was impressed by his dedication – he had the idea of electrifying all of the US, and he stuck with it, even when his progress was severely delayed or when no one else was willing to back him. Few people would be willing to take such huge risks, and in this case the payoff was clearly worth the risk.
Edison wore all four hats while inventing. However, the hat he wore the least was that of the judge. He refused to consider AC to be a viable solution, and this decision ultimately caused him to lose the war between AC and DC for the electrification of the US. AC was clearly the better system, but his own ego prevented him from accepting this fact.
The material in the video was well presented, however, I would have liked it to be more technical, like stating how many volts the original system ran on so I could compare it with today’s modern electrical system. Other than that, I enjoyed the video and it sets a good stage for learning more about Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and everyone else that was involved in the electrification of the US.
