> Would Edison's DC power have been better?
Although his arguments for DC were valid, he overlooked one critical factor
that makes AC far superior for land-based power distribution. With AC, it's
easy and efficient to generate very high voltages for long-distance
transmission (reducing the power lost in the wires and in the generation
equipment) and then convert to much lower voltages for (relatively) safe
usage at the consumer level. At the time, the only way to do this with DC
was with motor-generators, which are hugely inefficient, expensive, and
troublesome. AC motors are also more efficient, cost-effective and reliable
than their DC counterparts.
Now if someone would just invent an AC battery ...
What I find interesting is that Edison actually invented the first radio
tube, but had such a DC mindset that he never realized what it was good for.
It wasn't any good as a light bulb, so he went on to the next combination.
OTOH, I probably never would have thought of trying it in the first place,
so what do I know ?
<g>
Randall
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