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[Opinions] Re: I don't know about this.
I only learned about Edison twice in school: once, in elementary school, when we briefly went over his life and accomplishments, then in college, where we discussed his contributions to the film industry. I learned he was kind of a bastard, too, but that was later, after I had read a book about him. Anyway, ask random strangers on the street about Edison and I guarantee they still wouldn't zero in on what a horrible person he was. Some might, but most would likely talk about the fact that he was an inventor first (and I bet a few would insist he invented the light bulb). Let's face it, a lot of people tend to forget what they learned in school, or never received a quality education in the first place...but that's a post for another day.

This message was edited 4/4/2011, 3:13 PM

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Also......the fact that Edison "stole" ideas from other people doesn't make him unique. Eli Whitney didn't come up with system of interchangeable parts- a Frenchman beat him to it by about ten years. Henry Ford's engineers were the ones who conceived the assembly line. George Pullman did not invent the Pullman sleeping car. Whether these people "stole" their ideas from others or were simply smart enough to patent it before anyone else did is up for debate, but inventors have a history of doing this sort of thing. This doesn't make Edison unusual.
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