I'm no electrical genius, however I am a realist, and I do believe in progress.
We live in a world today where everyone expects every product or technology to 'just work'. If its not perfect, or doesn't do what it was intended to do at 100% efficiency the first time around, the internet experts are the very first ones to run screaming.
You talk about Tesla's inventions as if A) You could have done it better and B) the concepts and technologies would have never improved!
Its a shame that many of his inventions came to a halt. Not because they were insanely awesome (for the time they were), or because they worked with such flawless efficiency (some did). But more because of what the rest of the world has missed out on, which is 'what those inventions COULD have become'.
Take for example an early 1902-1910 V8 internal combustion engine, versus a modern day V8 internal combustion engine. Back then they created a whopping ~30hp from as much as 3500-7700cc (200-474cu) engines and the automobiles they were eventually on used massive copper piping that made the cars as heavy or heavier than a modern day F-450. Now with todays advances, a 281cu (4601cc) V8 can be built to produce thousands of horsepower somewhat reliably (and by reliable, I mean several track runs).
So imagine a world where some of Tesla's more 'looney' inventions may have experienced similar advances? Maybe we (as internet experteers) don't understand electrical theory quite like he did. Maybe we're not smart enough to make wireless power transmission more efficient. But someone might be, or might have been. What would the world be like today? It would be a completely different place, thats for sure.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm no electrical genius, however I am a realist, and I do believe in progress. We live in a world today where everyone expects every product or technology to 'just work'. If its not perfect, or doesn't do what it was intended to do at 100% efficiency the first time around, the internet experts are the very first ones to run screaming. You talk about Tesla's inventions as if A) You could have done it better and B) the concepts and technologies would have never improved! Its a shame that many of his inventions came to a halt. Not because they were insanely awesome (for the time they were), or because they worked with such flawless efficiency (some did). But more because of what the rest of the world has missed out on, which is 'what those inventions COULD have become'. Take for example an early 1902-1910 V8 internal combustion engine, versus a modern day V8 internal combustion engine. Back then they created a whopping ~30hp from as much as 3500-7700cc (200-474cu) engines and the automobiles they were eventually on used massive copper piping that made the cars as heavy or heavier than a modern day F-450. Now with todays advances, a 281cu (4601cc) V8 can be built to produce thousands of horsepower somewhat reliably (and by reliable, I mean several track runs). So imagine a world where some of Tesla's more 'looney' inventions may have experienced similar advances? Maybe we (as internet experteers) don't understand electrical theory quite like he did. Maybe we're not smart enough to make wireless power transmission more efficient. But someone might be, or might have been. What would the world be like today? It would be a completely different place, thats for sure.