EC on Ethics and Business – Jonathan A

I do not think good business necessarily means good ethics, or vice versa. A business needs to make money, therefore it needs to make a profit. Good ethics can make for good business, but I also do not think that a good business needs good ethics. For example, a company can have good ethics and please its customers and have a great business, but this is not the case in many circumstances. In order to make a profit, if there is a dangerous product that is malfunctioning, the company weighs whether it is more costly to fix the problem and inform people or deal with the consequences if the product hurting someone. Is this good ethics? I personally do not think so. But, on the other hand, is it good business? Yes. 

During modern day business what Edison did is seen everywhere. Bashing your rival company is seen with huge companies such as Apple and PCs. Talking bad about anyone is not good ethics but it is done in many businesses because it is considered good marketing, or good business. So, I do not think that Edison was ethical in any sense of the word, but is any business? Good business does not equal good ethics.

Lineman’s Death – Jonathan A

I am currently visiting the United States from England and am astonished at the cruelty to animals that was displayed in the hearings. A man was killed, is that not enough? Why do we have to kill more animals on top of the tragic accidents that have happened with this new AC current lighting system?

Accidents do happen, and, agreed that AC can be dangerous, but so can almost anything if safety precautions are not taken. The man should have been wearing gloves and the wires should not have been so easily available so that a man could get electrocuted. Instead of trying to ban AC, Edison should use his genius to help make it safe.

Edison’s statements are completely erroneous and biased. Instead of looking at how much alternating current will benefit us as people, Edison is stating claims that are invalid in order to save his business. Any type of electricity has the power to kill a man, but what we need to focus on is how to make it safe and efficient for the public. His experiments on animals to prove his point are extremely unethical. There is no way to measure a humans pain before death and how much of it he actually feels. Are we supposed to ask the man after he has been electrocuted how painful his death was? Therefore, in order to execute these experiments, Edison is being unethical and extremely inhumane by killing dogs. And, every human is different, so what if the current that was used to kill one man does not kill another?

Westinghouse’s AC system will benefit us greatly by allowing the long distance distribution of electricity, while Edison’s DC system is very limited. We as a people should stand behind Westinghouse in order to stop this unethical treatment of animals and allow for the electricity of the future to flourish. 

 

Pg 654 Cornell University-Westinghouse- The use of electricity for supplying light and power has now become as much a part of our every-day life as the railway, the steamship, the street-car, or the gas supply….It is employed in nearly every useful industry with a full knowledge that such employment has been and always must be attended with an apprciable degree of danger.

 

Sincerely, 

Sir Johnson Humphry James III

Edison Electrocution – Jonathan A

I think that Edison’s actions during this time were extremely unethical. All those dogs that were killed did not prove whether it was painless or not. Edison stated that he was an expert electrician, which he was, but how would he know how much electricity it would take to kill a human without pain and instantly? He would have to experiment with humans or animals. I also think that Edison’s views on this topic were obviously biased because he had his direct current company. Technically, both forms of electricity could kill a man, but one was stronger and could therefore do it with less volts. This time period where the war of the currents occurred seemed to go against every code of ethics that I have seen for engineers. Safety for the public was on every code of ethics I saw, yet Edison was trying to do the complete opposite.

Edison, Brown & Electrocution – Jonathan A

Brown played a major role in Edison’s public relations campaign against AC. Brown became a major voice in the war of the currents. He was a well dressed man who appeared very educated and calm, yet could cause a fiery debate and bring up many strong points arguing for Edison. Brown tried to have AC current banned unless used under 300 volts. He showed how dangerous it was by electrocuting, and killing, fairly big dogs. It was unethical how Brown killed so many dogs in order to prove his point. No matter the point, killing so many innocent animals is wrong. Without Brown, a man who had no ties to either Edison or Westinghouse, Edison’s arguments would not have been as strong.

Tesla and the AC Motor – Jonathan A

One of the biggest improvements of Tesla’s AC system was that there were no commutators. Because there were no commutators, there was a lot less wear and tear, thus making a more reliable machine. Tesla was able to change alternating current into direct current without the use of brushes or comutators (Jonnes 157). Tesla’s polyphase AC motor used two alternating currents that were out of step with each other, which caused magnetic fields to work to push the rotating shaft of the motor around. By using these different sets of currents, Tesla was able to ensure that there was always a strong current available to power the motor. One current would die down, and another would continue to power the motor. Tesla simply explained how his motor worked, and stopped and pointed at his motor to help with his explanations.

Tesla’s first lecture to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers was labeled, “A New System of Alternate Current Motors and Transformers.” This lecture basically described his new AC motor and system. The reason why it was so difficult to work with other engineers and to commercialize Tesla’s designs was that Tesla’s designs were far ahead of their time. Engineers would be amazed but still a little confused on his designs. The reason why Westinghouse needed Tesla’s patents on his AC system was that Tesla was coming out with so many patnents, that if Westinghouse did not own them, he would not be able to make an AC system that was efficient. Also, Tesla made the first efficient AC motor which was needed to power this system. If Tesla owned all the patents, nothing Westinghouse could do would allow him to be involved in the “battle of the currents” because he would not be able to use the essential designs needed to finish his system.

Memory – Jonathan A

Delay line memory was used in early digital computers. Delay line memory was refreshable memory, but was serial access as oppose to DRAM. In early forms of delay line memory, electric pulses were transduced into mechanical waves which circulated relatively slowly through a medium. After reaching the other end of the medium, the waves were re-transduced into electric pulses. The process was the repeated going through the medium again, thus “refreshing” the memory.

Dynamic Random Access Memory on the other hand is a type of random access memory, that stores each bit of data in a capacitor. A capacitor is an electrical component that can store energy in the electric field between a pair of conductors. Because reap capacitors leak charge, the information eventually fades unless the capacitor is charged periodically. As oppose to flash memory, when memory can be stored then erased and reprogrammed, the data is removed when the power supply is removed.

Delay Line memory is different then DRAM in the fact that delay line memory uses tubes instead of resistors. A Signal would go through the tubes and through a medium, allowing for the memory to store because of the delay. Then the process would happen again, which is why it is called refreshable memory. Delay line memory also was huge compared to the memory used today. DRAM is found in many things today such as video games, cameras, and cellular devices.

Micron Trip – Jonathan A

I foudn the micron trip extremely informative. I loved going in and learning about the company itself and how everything was made. I never knew how big Micron really was until this trip. I also found it amazing how the company started in a basement by two brothers. I also found out how Micron is in almost every electronic device that needs memory and how it competes with huge coorperations such as Sony and Samsung. I also found it good that we went because I found out information about paid internships and met people that could possibly help me further my career. All in all, I was skeptical about going but am happy I went on this trip.

How Transformers Work – Jonathan A.

Transformers are simply devices that can change voltage. Transformers are what made the alternating current system so efficient. Through a process called self-induction, voltage was either raised or lowered, thus allowing for the transmission of electricity over a very long distance with minmal loss in power. Companies would send extremely high voltages from a generator to a transformer which would lower the voltage to a safe amount into a home.

Tesla Master of Lightning – Jonathan A

I enjoyed this documentary on Tesla very much. Before this, I did not know much about Tesla. Just this semester I started finding out who and what he has done for the world. Tesla should be given much more credit for what he has done and this movie shows how much of a genius the man really was. It was extremely interesting to see how strange he was and how he came up with his inventions. The way he “dreamt” of his inventions and got visions was extremely interesting. Tesla intrigued me very much and I think this movie was a good portrayal of who he was as a man. Tesla came to the United States broke, and could have been extremely wealthy had he have been a good business man. Compared to Edison, Tesla was a genius and had amazing work habits just like Edison, but lacked the friendly nature and business traits of Edison. Tesla was an inventor, but definately not a business man. He invented many things while other people profited from his inventions.

Electric Nation – Jonathan A

I found this to be a very interesting movie. I enjoy Edison and find it interesting so even though most of the information was a little repititive, I did not mind. One part of this movie that was different was how it showed Samuel Insull and how he wanted to help “electrify” as much of the world as possible. It was very interesting how they brought electricity to the farms and how crowded cities were from wires. I enjoyed the way they actually showed pictures of the cities and how tangled the wires were, because before that I could only imagine and wondered how it looked. All in all, it was a great informitive movie.