Harold Brown and his campaign against Westinghouse’s AC system were ridiculous. The campaign was based more on revenge then real concern. There might have been real safety concerns with the AC system, but the way he presented them to the public was wrong. Shocking animals to show that they would die when exposed to AC current but not when exposed to DC current is bad practice. The tests were done in a way that they were more of a spectacle then a scientific procedure. If these tests had been done in a way that the animal was already going to be put down, and if the setting was not public, I believe the experiments would be more credible.
The testimonies of people getting shocked in basements by AC are the users fault I believe. When the systems are being installed precautions need to be taken so that shockes do not occur. If these precautions are not taken the person installing the system is at fault.
November 17, 2008 at 2:38 pm |
Good points. Fill in your reasons further and say something about what the kind of experiements you prefer would look like.
November 17, 2008 at 2:42 pm |
I agree with the fact that Harold Brown’s campaign was ridiculous
November 17, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
Why was in ridiculous? Is that different than its being wrong?
November 17, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
I agree with the part about the user at fault, but saying its someone elses fault does not fix the problem. Just cause most people have common sense does not mean that everyone does, and a wire that is humming from high voltage, may just be enough enticement someone needs. Although i believe that the person touching the wire should be blamed, there are those people, such as young children who don’t know any better. The tests need to be done to see if there is a possible danger there, and what wires need to be protected, and standards set forth for safety.
November 19, 2008 at 12:23 pm |
The people talking about how they would receive shocks in damp basements were workers that installed electrical systems, not the clients for the system. Westinghouse originally put his transformers and electrical components hidden away in a box to hide them, this also kept it out of the way of people. Tests still should be done to see what danger there is. Still I say that it is the persons fault if they get shocked. Electricity can be just like a hot stove, if you touch it something bad will happen. If you do play around with electricity and get shocked, hopefully that will teach you not to do it again.