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Comment by fr0sty | Hacker News Reader

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fr0sty·

What was Tesla's "one overriding idea" in your opinion?

The major pursuit of his life was wireless power over great distances which was (and is) wildly impractical.

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Alternating current, or perhaps more precisely, 'resonance' in the form of AC and radio waves.

It's not about "one overriding idea", it's about having a fundamental, unified understanding. Edison was about randomly trying things and see what works, Tesla was about seeking fundamental understanding and predicting what will work.

Picking on Tesla for some error given what he did with the AC motor and other projects is very wrongheaded. You're depending on Tesla right now in many ways. Obviously he was wildly successful; Edison's contributions have all fallen by the wayside.

>It was a man who thought big, who had "one overriding idea": Tesla.

>It's not about "one overriding idea",

Make up your mind.

So, you're more interested in picking petty nits in phrasing than grasping the overall point. It was Linus's phrase, and he was wrong to phrase what he was actually talking about that way (no one ever uses "one overriding idea" in every sphere whatsoever).

Edison's contributions have all fallen by the wayside

I know it's kind of trendy right now to deify Tesla and demonize Edison, but... really?

Don't pretend to know that I said what I did because it was a "trend." It's a fact that Edison made no fundamental contribution or discovery. He was a very productive hack. Tesla's contributions are lasting and revolutionary.

You just snuck "fundamental" in there. Show me a great anything that is all foundation. Foundation is where you start, not stop.

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