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What the . . . Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are bigger innovators than Tesla, da Vinci, and Galileo?!!? (electronicproducts.com)

submitted ago by LuvMeSomeElectronic

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[–]Richeh 20 points21 points ago

I'm not a fan of surveys at the best of times, but this is just misleading.

The study found that young Americans are very much aware of the importance of innovation and invention in their personal lives as well as the role it plays in the context of the nation’s economy. 47% agreed that a lack of invention could hurt the U.S. economy.

...so, 53% disagreed? Considering the question is "invent or don't, which is better?", that strikes me as exactly the opposite of what they claim.

60% stated that there are factors that could keep them from pursuing an education in science, technology, engineering, or math.

...like not wanting to? It's troubling that 60% of youths want to go into the arts? Catering? Civil service?... I could go on, almost indefinitely. 40% employment in science and technology doesn't sound like a shortage to me.

tl;dr:

These are bad conclusions drawn on a survey of which I sincerely doubt the worth.

[–]Jimmyup 1 point2 points ago

That is not usually how surveys work, there usually are more than two options with another being "no opinion". So it could be 47% agree, 30 disagree, 23% abstained.

[–]Richeh 0 points1 point ago

Fair point, although "I don't care" probably should also probably count as someone not particularly switched-on to innovation.

[–]QuietEyed1 138 points139 points ago

You're shocked? 16-25 year olds don't know a damn thing.

I'm still a fan of Man-From-Tall-Cave, who discovered Dancing-Glow-That-Cooks.

[–]gfixler 10 points11 points ago

I think there's an element of recency bias as well. Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are more recent, more recently well-known, more famous recently, and current people have felt their effects much more noticeably. As such, they are given greater weight as innovators.

[–]QuietEyed1 1 point2 points ago

Celebrity and current relevance comes into play, as well. That 'wheel' guy, whoever he was? Outshines em all.

[–]DAsSNipez 0 points1 point ago

That's a really good point but it would make these polls useless... maybe the top spot should be listed as 1.b, 1.a being the wheel guy no matter who else is involved.

[–]gfixler 2 points3 points ago

Are you guys talking about Pat Sajak?

[–]DAsSNipez -1 points0 points ago

I have no idea who that is.

[–]matts2 0 points1 point ago

To get some sense you want to get a list of those who worked over, say, 50 years ago.

[–]nepidae 48 points49 points ago

25-80 year olds don't know a damn thing either. Age alone is actually a pretty shitty metric to use when you are looking for specific perceptions.

[–]QuietEyed1 21 points22 points ago

Perhaps. But I'm betting a survey of 25-80 year olds wouldn't have Zuck or Jobs nearly that high in the rankings, as those one made a Internet social site and the other a mobile phone.

[–]nepidae 17 points18 points ago

I agree that they would choose different people. They most likely would choose people that they knew, just like the younger generation chose people they knew.

The real issue is that this simply is not a quantitative question. This is more of a social question than a scientific question.

[–]KR4T0S 19 points20 points ago

Polls are basically popularity contests though aren't they?

If you asked most people the best sci-fi film they saw in the last ten years it would probably be Avatar or Transformers because those films were seen by a lot more people than most other sci-fi films. It's not like people research their decisions, they just say what they are familiar with so popular always wins in a group vote.

Winston Churchill once said something that I think is relevant here: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

[–]nepidae 2 points3 points ago

Yep, I think that is basically what I meant. Whether you are polling young people or old people, it really isn't about intelligence, it is about what they remember (aka popular.)

As for the Churchill quote, I think democracy could be replaced with any form of government and still be true. In a democracy the ignorant masses elect people. In a monarchy sex and violence elects people. In communism force of personality and violence elects people.

[–]greginnj 0 points1 point ago

Given the 'Temple Grandin' and 'Amelia Earhart' entries, it's clear that they're choosing people they've seen movies about.

Which suggests a way to fix this...

[–]votercolonel 3 points4 points ago

Surveys should only be done on intelligent, super cool people. Fuck the majority of the population. I'm actually surprised Justin Timberlake wasn't on the list, he created Napster you know.

[–]DemDude 5 points6 points ago

Most of today's 16-25 year-olds have never even used Napster...

[–]Redebo 1 point2 points ago

That's crazy because he played a guy in a movie called "the social network" and they called him by another name! Maybe he just goes by pseudonyms when inventing stuff.

[–]jbrained001 0 points1 point ago

He also invented the Velcro® Wonderbra®. Flipping genius, that Justin.

[–]theowest 1 point2 points ago

Hey man, I'm sixteen and I know a damn thing.

[–]markokane 11 points12 points ago

Which one? It's important.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]seblasto 1 point2 points ago

What was that thing my mom told me to do? "Don't put salt in your eyes.Don't put salt in your eyes.Don't put salt in your eyes.Put salt in your eyes." Argh!

[–]redJetpackNinja 0 points1 point ago

And "don't put Twinkies on your pizza."

[–]maccabeus 1 point2 points ago

blasphemy

[–]A_Pickle 73 points74 points ago

How the fuck does Edison win the top spot? Fuck that guy, he was an asshole!

[–]eridius 49 points50 points ago

Yeah, Tesla isn't even on that list!

[–]terevos2 27 points28 points ago

Tesla was a far greater innovator than Thomas Edison, but unfortunately doesn't have the name recognition.

Arguably, the greatest thing Edison did was the light bulb. And we've mostly transitioned to a different kind of light bulb now: compact fluorescent, a Tesla invention. (well fluorescent, not the compact part)

[–]Alpine_Stranger 15 points16 points ago

The light bulb wasn't even Edison. He just made a pretty decent one.

[–]terevos2 1 point2 points ago

Exactly.

[–]jordanlund -1 points0 points ago

Edison's 1,043 patents:

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledisonpatents.htm

[–]aterlumen 11 points12 points ago

Keep in mind quite a few (if not most) of those were done by his assistants, with him taking all of the credit.

[–]JeffTXD 15 points16 points ago

Like Steve Jobs.

[–]Shorties 2 points3 points ago* 

Not exactly, Steve Jobs' name isn't in all of the apple patents, and where it is, it is alongside the other engineers who developed the concepts. Edison, very rarely credited joint inventors on his patents.

[–]JeffTXD -2 points-1 points ago

None the less, I still have serious doubts about the validity of Jobs being included in most of the patents. I don't think it's right to include somebody on a patent for the type of involvement Jobs likely had.

[–]Shorties 1 point2 points ago* 

I don't know, if you read the biography, it's pretty obvious that he constantly was giving input to everyone who worked for him. Im sure if he gave any sort of input at all, he was included on the patent. Which really isn't usual, most companies have policies that they own all patents made by their employees anyway. Steve Jobs also did have a few inventions that he could call his own as well, most notably the glass staircases present in many apple stores, he designed the structure that makes such a staircase possible for his neXt computer factory after leaving apple, then brought it to apple and used it for many of their stores.

[–]maccabeus 1 point2 points ago

assistants, not friends.

[–]fsckit 0 points1 point ago

One of which was Nikola Tesla

[–]terevos2 2 points3 points ago

Patents do not equal inventions. I would hope that we would have learned that by now given all that is patented.

Many of Edison's most celebrated patents were later invalidated. The reason he had so many patents is because he had so much money.

[–]Shorties 0 points1 point ago* 

TIL Tesla developed the fluorescent lamp, interesting. Yeah it's sad that Tesla doesn't have the recognition that he deserves. But also I do want to mention, that Edison, (At least his lab assistants under his name) invented the first working motion picture camera, and the phonograph, which were just as big of innovations as the lightbulb in my opinion.

[–]terevos2 0 points1 point ago* 

Edison does deserve some credit, yes, for the phonograph and the motion picture camera. But these were things that were a small evolution of what was already around at the time.

The things that Tesla did were revolutionary. Some of these things we're only just getting to understand and use now. You can't say that for any of Edison's works.

EDIT: FYI Tesla's inventions most notably: Alternating Current (you know, all the electricity we use in our homes), AC motor, wireless communication (he technically invented the radio and invalidated Marconi's patent), x-ray, how to do lightning protection, wireless power (and I mean long range), bladeless turbine, Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft.

He was WAY before his time, which is part of the reason he wasn't so popular. People were afraid and thought he was a cooky guy.

[–]LoompaOompa 0 points1 point ago

I'm a fan of the motion picture, myself.

[–]terevos2 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, it's tough to say what was more "innovative", a long lasting filament for the light bulb or stringing photographs together faster than the other people were doing at the time.

Either way, all Edison did was minor improvements over what was already being done at the time.

[–]mamjjasond 10 points11 points ago

Irrelevant; it wasn't a list of nicest people, it was a list of innovators.

That said, it reeks of profound ignorance and herd mentality.

[–]A_Pickle 1 point2 points ago

Irrelevant; it wasn't a list of nicest people, it was a list of innovators.

Touche. :D

[–]kingtrewq 0 points1 point ago

He was an asshole because he took full credit for others innovation. So it does count

[–]Kimano 19 points20 points ago* 

To be fair it's not like he doesn't deserve the top spot at all. He was still an incredibly prolific inventor and innovator. There are many people who should be on that list and aren't. Kia Silverbrook, Shunpei Yamazaki, Elihu Thomson, etc.

Just because he was an ass and stole credit for some things doesn't make him not a great inventor.

[–]ArcticCelt 1 point2 points ago

Just because he was an ass and stole credit for some things doesn't make him not a great inventor.

Not sure if you were talking about Edison or Jobs.

[–]Kimano 0 points1 point ago

Edison.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]Kimano 0 points1 point ago

But this isn't a competition for the nicest inventor, or the best friend of an inventor. It's who was the most innovative or prolific, and he certainly qualifies in that respect.

[–]SchodingersCat 1 point2 points ago

"great" innovator...sure...but not the top spot.

[–]Kimano 0 points1 point ago

That's my point. While he's not a 24% shoe-in, you could certainly make a case for him being there.

[–]SchodingersCat 0 points1 point ago

I guess that's true. just...arrggh. the top spot..really? and zuckerberg...facebook is ONE thing...adding updates doesn't make it a NEW thing.

I think I'm more of just irked by the failure this article is written with.

[–]Kimano 0 points1 point ago

Well the article is entirely right, it criticizes most of the same things we are. It's the people who answered the survey the article is written about that I want to shake like a baby.

[–]SchodingersCat 0 points1 point ago

this is true, very true. just..aggg, I'm part of the surveyed demographic. So I guess I am in fact a bias sample with how perturbed I am XD

[–]Phrodo_00 2 points3 points ago

Nobody remembers Charles Babbage :(

[–]Kimano 1 point2 points ago

He's another good one, but he really only invented the difference engine. It was incredibly innovative for it's time, but he doesn't match the breadth of subjects that some other inventors did.

[–]Postiez 1 point2 points ago

He was not an innovator because he completely and totally tried to slow down progress for his own gain!

[–]Richeh 8 points9 points ago

But he's on the history reading list.

Come to Britain. We have the feud between Tesla and Edison on the Physics syllabus.

Also nice biscuits.

[–]Agromania -1 points0 points ago

Also on the syllabus in Australia, biscuits are OK

[–]Mashulace 0 points1 point ago

Not "nice as in good" biscuits, but Nice Biscuits

[–]A_Pickle 0 points1 point ago

Come to Britain. We have the feud between Tesla and Edison on the Physics syllabus.

Also nice biscuits.

I'm fucking in.

[–]theowest 4 points5 points ago

The American education bro.

[–]BlueSpeed9 2 points3 points ago

I'm inventing electricity and you look like an asshole.

[–]CannibalShinobi 1 point2 points ago

Might have been an asshole but that asshole got the light bulb to function properly.

[–]AreaAtheist -1 points0 points ago

I truly despise Edison.

Yea, he's credited with an energy-inefficient light. Tesla built the power grid.

[–]memymineown 9 points10 points ago

That list included Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart and Temple Grandin. This is seriously, seriously depressing.

And I also noticed you left off Darwin, Einstein and Newton(not to mention Maxwell, Planck, Dirac, Woese, Koch, Leibniz and a whole host of other characters) who are far, far more important than Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Marie Curie.

[–]cryo 1 point2 points ago

Well, it's not everyone's hobby to know by heart, or even to have heard of, various innovators in various fields throughout history, so it's hardly suprising, and shouldn't really be that depressing, I think.

[–]memymineown 2 points3 points ago

Well I actually have a degree in learning about various innovators in science so I may be a little biased but.....

I believe it is everyone's duty to know the general principles behind the things they use and to know a little bit of their history. This really shouldn't be that much of a request.

How many people who took the survey do you think knew who Kim Kardashian is? Or Michael Jordan? But I would be willing to bet quite a large sum of money that they didn't know who Tesla is.

In my view this betrays the larger problem of elevating useless people and denigrating useful people in our society. And that is most certainly depressing.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]memymineown 0 points1 point ago

Your point is partially correct but doesn't explain the whole picture and the bigger problem.

Marie Curie is the only woman I listed that deserves a spot in the top innovators. And it is very doubtful that she should be anywhere lower than 100(lower is better).

[–]sfacets 32 points33 points ago

tl;dr - young americans are idiots.

[–]israfel070 11 points12 points ago

To play devil's advocate... Apple's products and Facebook both reached a global base of hundreds of millions of people, DURING their creators' lifetimes. Better than dying without ever seeing your views and accomplishments taken seriously, from a certain point of view.

I do NOT mean to say that farmville is better than heliocentrism or however some redditor is going to creatively misinterpret this.

[–]aterlumen 4 points5 points ago

Definitely. For my generation, social media websites are one of, if not the most influential inventions of our lifetimes. The only other thing that comes close is ubiquitous cell phones.

[–]_TheGermanGuy_ 0 points1 point ago

This. Just think about the fact that we take things like the light bulb, electricity, nuclear stuff and so on for granted. We think little about them because they were there for many years!

Also, the fact that many teens have a sort of "personal" bonding to Jobs and Zuckerberg boosts their rating.

[–]pemboa -2 points-1 points ago

What does any of what you've said have to do with technological innovation?

[–]CheapyPipe 0 points1 point ago

Quite a lot to the rational thinker.

[–]pemboa 0 points1 point ago

But none of what he described is technological innovation.

[–]TheJungleVIP -2 points-1 points ago

If by "none" you mean "all"

[–]airrore 13 points14 points ago

ANY idiot could come up with alternating current, but not just anyone delivers pictures of friends eating food and your ex-girlfriends kids to your computer.

[–]Decimae 4 points5 points ago

You forgot Newton.

[–]minimalmindman 28 points29 points ago

this is fucking insulting to anybody who isn't a sub-par drone.

[–]S7evyn 3 points4 points ago

There are above-par drones?

[–]fsckit 0 points1 point ago

Yeah, but they're mostly spying on Iran.

[–]Richeh 1 point2 points ago

I don't think so. Surely ignorance of historical figures isn't entirely damning?

The tragedy of Galileo, da Vinci and Tesla is that they're not obvious enough to be picked by the people who aren't interested in being surveyed or in the history of technology - and yet they aren't indie enough to be mentioned by budding intellectuals.

I'll be honest, I think you've overstated yourself. The survey is of dubious worth, and the results it's garnered are distinctly lacking in outrage.

[–]dakotahawkins 10 points11 points ago

This sounds retarded. Apparently it was an open-ended question. Put me on the spot like that and I'm probably going to start thinking in a recent context.

[–]PasswordLost 13 points14 points ago

Greatest innovators of All time

You might want to check out guys like Pythagoras, Archimedes, Plato and pals. They pretty much formed the basis for modern science. Oh wait what am I saying, putting white plastic on electronics is much, much more innovative.

[–]markokane 8 points9 points ago

Those are great guys but I have to stand with Newton.

[–]danxmason 4 points5 points ago

No one comes even close to Newton, well except maybe Leibniz.

[–]Phrodo_00 1 point2 points ago

What about Euler? that guy was friggin' nuts.

[–]Dinkerdoo -2 points-1 points ago

Leibniz:Newton::Salieri:Mozart

[–]Metalshields 0 points1 point ago

He even invented the cat door!

[–]imsabbel 0 points1 point ago

While often overrated, do not overlook Einstein. He did incredible stuff in a wide range of physics. Who knows how much else he would have innovated if the easy stuff had not already been dealt with by that time...

[–]votercolonel 2 points3 points ago

Hey those white plastic things have Apps man, respect where respect is due.

[–]Sparrowsluck 0 points1 point ago

Doesn't matter who built the stage, people come to see the actors on it.

[–]Richeh 7 points8 points ago

surveyed a group of teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 25

Sixteen to twenty-five. The average sixteen to twenty five year old is not an expert on the history of technology. If you asked them in a mall, then whether they'd heard of Galileo, da Vinci or Turing, they almost certainly wouldn't think of them first.

I'm surprised Edison got into the top spot. Shame it wasn't Tesla.

[–]votercolonel 2 points3 points ago

They probably know Edison from the Simpsons episode.

[–]M3wThr33 4 points5 points ago

And this is why I'm naming my kid after Tesla.

[–]idontalwaysupvote 10 points11 points ago

I would let Steve slide as his products are everywhere and they are fairly innovative, not to mention he just died putting his name at the front of everyone's minds. But Zuckerberg? He didn't innovate shit he just took what other people were doing at the time and put it together and got lucky. There is nothing innovative about Facebook.

Anybody else never heard of Temple Grandin before?

[–]evil-doer 16 points17 points ago

steve jobs products? being the ceo of a company that puts out products does not make them yours. he didnt invent them. at all.

does being the one that announces them in front of an audience really confuse this many people?

[–]cryo 1 point2 points ago

It depends on what you mean by invent. Not a lot of people were buying portable digital music players before the iPod, not a lot of people were buying portable smart phones before the iPhone. Clearly there is a lot of innovation there, even if the technical basics were already in existance.

[–]evil-doer 11 points12 points ago

BUT HE DIDNT INVENT EITHER OF THOSE PRODUCTS.

apple has more than one employee, theres all sorts of designers and inventors. steve jobs just ran the business side of the company.

[–]Nerdlinger -3 points-2 points ago

And was the source of much of the vision of the company and it's products.

[–]evil-doer 3 points4 points ago

yes, ok, he was jesus, and people just being in the presence of him gave them ideas. give me a break.

[–]Nerdlinger 1 point2 points ago

Wow. Nice overreaction.

Look, most of the stories people use to illustrate what an ass he was are his reactions to people who bring him designs and implementations that don't fit his vision for the company's products.

To dismiss him as the guy who "just ran the business side of the company" is just as wrong and asinine as saying he did all of the designing and engineering.

[–]shyanide 6 points7 points ago

Temple Grandin is an autistic woman who went on to complete a Bachelors and Masters program in the 70's, at a time when the only treatment for autism was institutionalization. She is the basis for all modern autism treatments, which helps thousands of autistic children live productive lives. HBO made a great movie about her life. Check it out if you get a chance.

[–]idontalwaysupvote 5 points6 points ago

Interesting. I just skimmed her Wiki article and I do believe I heard something on NPR about her before. While her accomplishments in the face of adversity are astounding and inspirational, I don't think that her achievements are suited for this list.

Also did they start teaching about her in school in the last couple of years because I would have thought I would have at least known her name to get on this list....

[–]Zarokima 0 points1 point ago

She was mentioned in my psychology class, but that's it.

[–]Stingray88 2 points3 points ago

She also pretty much pioneered the movement to bring about more ethical treatment of livestock.

[–]Richeh 0 points1 point ago

True, but Zuckerberg has publicists, and what has Darwin done for us lately?

And no, I'd never heard of Temple Grandin either. I suspect that it's one that people have pulled out of the hat to look clever.

If you ask for a name, it'll be one at the top of people's minds. I strongly doubt that they had a list of suggested geniuses (geniii?) to stir people's recollections, so people vote for the last person they read in a newspaper. If someone asked you or me a question while we walked past in a public place, we'd probably do the same.

[–]demonstar55 -3 points-2 points ago

Facebook made innovations to PHP (rewrite from the ground up that made it faster. Also there is Cassandra which was developed at Facebook (reddit uses this).

As for Temple Grandin, I did not know her by name, but looking her up I remember seeing something about her.

But, this list is terrible, all wrong!

[–]eridius 14 points15 points ago

Was Facebook's contributions to PHP innovative, or just mere technological progress?

[–]Munchroom 20 points21 points ago

and had zuckerberg anything to do with that?

[–]cryo 0 points1 point ago

What's the difference? Or rather, where is the line drawn?

[–]Agromania 1 point2 points ago

Innovative: Nobody's ever done anything like this before e.g. the transistor

Progress: This is just a better version of something already existing e.g. faster PHP

[–]icandoitbetter 1 point2 points ago

So writing a new compiler for an existing (bad) programming language counts as innovation?

[–]GaijinFoot 2 points3 points ago

No different than the IMDB rankings. Batman Returns a top 20 movie? Yeah fucking right.

[–]fotobox 2 points3 points ago

If this list was created by someone who was an expert on 'innovators' then you'd have a point. But it's not, it's picked by members of the public.

[–]votercolonel 0 points1 point ago

These lists should always be created by an expert, voted on by the public. That way everyone might learn something if they don't know who they're voting for.

[–]matts2 1 point2 points ago

And recent movies get way higher scores on IMDB. And if you ask for the best musicians you get pop starts from the last 5 years.

So?

[–]DocHopper 3 points4 points ago

The government doesn't tell you about Tesla...

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

Umm what? Where is Dennis Ritchie?

[–]GLneo 0 points1 point ago

None of these people belong on the list, there are so many greats in our human history, the top 30 spots are already reserved.

[–]kinologik 5 points6 points ago

I don't want to live on this planet anymore

[–]ramp_tram 3 points4 points ago

There are people who think that Facebook is the best thing in the past fifty years.

Those are the same people that I believe the world would be a better place without.

40% stated that they could not imagine what their lives would be like without a smartphone or tablet

Exactly the same as it was 5 years ago. Why the fuck is everyone so stupid?

[–]votercolonel 0 points1 point ago

Does anyone still use facebook anyway? It was fun for maybe 6 months tops.

[–]MadxHatter0 1 point2 points ago

No need to be so critical. Just because everyone can't name loads of innovators in like 50 different fields doesn't make them useless or stupid.

Plus, the idea that they can't imagine what life would be like is rather normal. After rapid change as one would see in a singularity-like event, to contemplate life pre-singularity is very different.

[–]theHip 0 points1 point ago

Bigger in the way that people jerk off to their products.

[–]ro4ers 0 points1 point ago

Report: Young Americans choose Thomas Edison over Steve Jobs as greatest innovator of all time

and

Surprising, no?

This makes me seethe with anger. Holy fuck

[–]Khorv 1 point2 points ago

Edison was not an innovator.

[–]cryo 0 points1 point ago

Yes he was.

[–]Khorv 0 points1 point ago

He was clever, and resourceful, not an innovator though.

[–]aloeicious 0 points1 point ago

Motherfucking Ben Franklin?

[–]SchodingersCat 0 points1 point ago

And this is why everyone should study at least a little bit of statistics as they reach adulthood. That way they'll be able to recognize the problems in the majority of statistics known as a "bias sample".

also, this is what happens when we let people uneducated in the topics they are writing about publish things.

[–]jordanlund 1 point2 points ago

You could argue that Tesla and da Vinci weren't really innovaters because their work wasn't really understood until much, much later. Tesla was limited to the field of electricity in ways that Edison was not and da Vinci's notebooks had some fascinating ideas, but they were ideas he lacked the technology to set in motion.

/Devil's Advocate.

[–]Caddy666 1 point2 points ago

I see your point, but i disagree, because whether at the time or not, they were the ones who did the work.

[–]baddox 0 points1 point ago

This is obviously one of those "choose the name you're most familiar with" polls. You know, like all elections in the USA.

[–]Jimmyup 0 points1 point ago

It was "list some innovators you know" kinda thing, I am sure if presented with a list/multiple choice some more "proper choices" would have been selected.

[–]TheGhostWhoWalks 1 point2 points ago

I don't know about any of you but I got a good laugh out of Steve Jobs' angry eyes.

[–]unrealious 0 points1 point ago

Edison --->>> Lightbulb??? Are we still repeating that?

[–]senatorpjt 0 points1 point ago

It's called Worthington's Law.

[–]getter1 1 point2 points ago

Fixed it for you

[–]Roosta 0 points1 point ago

how rich was tesla, da vinci and galileo???? boom.

[–]Dinkerdoo 1 point2 points ago* 

On behalf of the elephants, fuck Edison being in the top spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkBU3aYsf0Q

[–]Jman5 0 points1 point ago

This isn't really that big a deal. People will always skew toward current innovators in a ranking like this.

If they wanted a more legitimate ranking, they would exclude people who made it big in the last 20 years.

[–]ccutler69 0 points1 point ago

Michael Faraday or none of this electricity shit is possible.

[–]filterspam 0 points1 point ago

Wright brothers and Henry Ford did some pretty good work too.

[–]bobpndrgn 0 points1 point ago

I am younger than that and I would have said a caveman was the greatest inventor. Motherfuckin' fire bitches.

[–]mosler 0 points1 point ago

im more pissed about edison. that man didnt innovate shit. he just paid scientists to work for him then patented their work under his name.

let me rephrase that he did innovate legal intellectual property theft.

[–]CorpusCallosum 0 points1 point ago

Stop using the name Mark Suckerberg near names such as Steve Jobs, Tesla, da Vinci and Galileo.

One thing is not like the others.

[–]AggieDem 0 points1 point ago

Fuck it, let's just be glad kids still know who Edison is.

[–]lestat_ 0 points1 point ago

lies, light bulb was invented by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and is called Ilyich bulb every Russian student knows it.

[–]SuperiorRobot 1 point2 points ago* 

At least Jobs and Zuckerberg made things. Earhart just flew fucking planes. All Tesla did was invent our modern version of electricity distribution.

Edit: I don't think you all understand me. Emilia Earhart flew planes. She didn't build them or invent a new technology that made them work better. She pushed the boundaries of what planes could do in her time, but I still think it is more insulting that she is ahead of the listed individuals than Jobs (probably not Zuckerberg, he just used others ideas). My point above is that I personally believe Tesla should be at the top of the list. da Vinci and Galileo advanced medicine and science, often in the face of religious pressure, at a level that Jobs couldn't touch. Jobs did significantly impact the personal computer and the way you interact with them. He isn't more important, but at least he is still an innovator.

TL;DR Tesla > Job > Earhart

[–]therealrico 0 points1 point ago

I detect sarcasm that other people aren't picking up on

[–]thatmorrowguy 1 point2 points ago

Please read up on Tesla's wikipedia page sometime. Particularly the sidebar box that includes "Electromechanical devices and principles developed by Nikola Tesla". Tesla's inventions and principles or a descendant of stuff he figured out run basically everything that you work with that uses Electricity.

[–]SuperiorRobot 4 points5 points ago

All Tesla did was invent our modern version of electricity distribution.

/s

Is that better? Did you even read my fucking edit.

[–]mistyriver 0 points1 point ago* 

Nice to see Temple Grandin listed.

[–]markokane 0 points1 point ago

I agree, but she is honestly not deserving that spot. My child is autisic and I am thankful for everything Temple has done for the cause, but she doesn't rank in top of all times.

If they were looking for a female, Marie Curie

[–]sideways86 1 point2 points ago

This is a survey of who young Americans in that age range have EVER FUCKING HEARD OF.

Amelia Earhart? She was a pilot. What place does a pilot have on a list of innovators? YURI FUCKING GAGARIN doesn't belong on this list, and he was the first fucking human in space. Still wasn't an 'innovator' - the guys who designed his craft were.

Fuck everything about this nonsense.

[–]Ambiwlans 1 point2 points ago* 

Zuck and Jobs haven't really invented ANYTHING. That's the problem. It isn't just that their ranks are wrong but so is their being on the list at all. Emilia Earhart too, she was a pilot not an inventor. And Marie Curie was a scientist that didn't invent anything. Temple Grandin developed and innovated .... but certainly didn't invent anything.

So of the top 7 inventor/innovators only 2 of them have actually invented things.

[–]MadxHatter0 -1 points0 points ago

Wtf are you saying?

[–]Ambiwlans 0 points1 point ago

That 5 of there 7 people aren't inventors?

[–]Major_Major_Major 0 points1 point ago

Jobs and Wosniac invented the personal computer.

[–]Xionic 0 points1 point ago

The Apple 1 was most definitely NOT the first personal computer.

[–]Ambiwlans -2 points-1 points ago

What? xD. No they didn't. If anyone invented the computer it would have been IBM.

And even if Apple was the first PC, Jobs didn't even build the Apple. Woz did! Jobs just sold it. Jobs couldn't hardware design himself out of a paper bag. All of what was Apple/Apple II in the early days was Woz. Jobs was the consumer whore/PR guy. A valuable job no doubt, but no inventor.

[–]potatoarecool -2 points-1 points ago

more importantly, who the fuck is "Temple Grandin"?

[–]Caddy666 0 points1 point ago

http://blog.ted.com/2010/02/24/the_world_needs/

[–]nrbartman -1 points0 points ago

That's who the fuck is "DR. Temple Grandin" to you, pal.

[–]jooes 0 points1 point ago

Nobody knows who Tesla is, so I don't see why that's a surprise... Despite all of the crazy shit that guy came up with, nobody even knows his name. He will pretty much always be in Edison's shadow...

And, I'd say da Vinci is more known to most people as being a famous painter than anything else... Mona Lisa, The Last Supper... I think when most people hear the name "Leonardo da Vinci", that's what they think of, people generally don't realize that he had all of those crazy ideas and inventions as well.

[–]votercolonel 0 points1 point ago

Unfortunately I think they also think of the Da Vinci Code and Tom Hanks.

[–]zutroi67 -2 points-1 points ago

Just FML. That its all. FML FML FML.

[–]HerbertSnow -2 points-1 points ago

This makes me so mad I could punch a baby right now.

[–]rube203 -2 points-1 points ago

needs to be x-posted to /r/wtf

[–]stansky 1 point2 points ago

nope.

[–]kbfirebreather -2 points-1 points ago

Mark Zuckerberg made it possible to connect with people you haven't seen or heard from for decades. He allows you to quickly connect with people across the globe in an instant. He popularized it. That's my assumption why he's so high up on the list.

Disclaimer: I hate facebook and barely use it. I also hate Mark Zuckerberg and think he's a raging asshole.

[–]votercolonel 0 points1 point ago

Great now I can befriend someone I knew in high school only to block their content from my news feed 2 months later. We're living in the future man.

[–]throwweigh1212 0 points1 point ago

yeah, that just means your friends are retarded.

[–]votercolonel 0 points1 point ago

Who said these high schoolers and me were ever friends? Maybe they were always retarded and that's why we didn't stay in contact. High school was 15 years ago for me.

[–]throwweigh1212 0 points1 point ago

That's my point. If you're adding retarded people on facebook, that's your damn problem, not facebook's.

[–]votercolonel 0 points1 point ago

You're getting quite agitated about this. My point is simply that no one interesting is on facebook anymore. Those remaining are either 17 years old or people I knew 15 years ago befriending me.

Facebook was really interesting maybe 4-5 years ago but it's hardly relevant now.

[–]throwweigh1212 0 points1 point ago

If you want to interpret my mild bemusement as "agitated", sure. ;)

My point is simply that no one interesting is on facebook anymore.

To you maybe, obviously there are plenty of people that find it useful and entertaining.

it's hardly relevant now.

Maybe it's become so ubiquitous and everyday that we hardly think about it anymore. Sure it's not revolutionary anymore, but that doesn't mean it's not relevant now.

[–]kbfirebreather 0 points1 point ago

Talk to the old heads...who actually liked people from high school.

[–]ramp_tram 2 points3 points ago

Mark Zuckerberg made it possible to connect with people you haven't seen or heard from for decades.

TIL Mark Zuckerberg invented email, myspace, ICQ, AIM, MSN Messenger, the telephone, the postal service, and "bumping into people on the street."

He allows you to quickly connect with people across the globe in an instant.

TIL Mark Zuckerberg invented the Internet.

[–]kbfirebreather 3 points4 points ago

TIL gmail made it possible to search joe shmoe from bumblefuck, show me their picture, where they grew up, where they graduated high school and when, and then email them because now I know I knew them and that's who I'm looking for.

[–]ramp_tram -3 points-2 points ago

MySpace.

Try again.

[–]kbfirebreather 0 points1 point ago

MySpace, where they use white text on white background, or a rainbow clusterfuck of clusterfuckness on their page. That's totally where I would go to reconnect with people from 10, 20, 30, 40+ years ago.

[–]ramp_tram -3 points-2 points ago

Your argument is that Facebook was the first place to allow you to search for, and find, someone you haven't talked to in years.

I proved you wrong.

It doesn't matter that MySpace was bad, it was first. Don't forget, Facebook is becoming just as bad.

[–][deleted] ago

[deleted]

[–]ramp_tram 0 points1 point ago

Never claimed it was, simply pointing out that it was huge before Facebook.

[–]kbfirebreather 0 points1 point ago

He popularized it

You didn't read everything I said buddy.

[–]ramp_tram -3 points-2 points ago

You're very stupid.

[–]kbfirebreather 0 points1 point ago

You're very dense.

[–]cryo 0 points1 point ago

But no one outside of the US used it.

[–]ramp_tram -1 points0 points ago

Friendster.

[–]cryo 0 points1 point ago

Ok, "made it possible" was probably an overstatement by the OP, but certainly "made it much easier for a lot of people". What good is it that something is technically possible, if no one can do it or does it?

It's the results that count, when it comes to this.

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