Double WI: JP Morgan and/or Thomas Edison died during childhood?

Do you think that the world would be more or less better off without

  • Edison

    Votes: 9 60.0%
  • Morgan

    Votes: 6 40.0%

  • Total voters
    15
What would the long term effects be on American and world society, technology, and business law if either/both JP Morgan and Thomas Edison had died during childhood and never accomplished what they did as adults? What would be the pros and cons of a world without either of them?
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I honestly think it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Though Morgan was a gifted and ruthless financier, those traits were not uncommon during the gilded age and individuals such as Mellon and Frick would likely take his place on both the investment and trust forming front.

Edison is more troublesome. He certainly was a brilliant inventor, (though many of his inventions were either collaborations or the works of other men) however his most revolutionary innovation was the creation of a dedicated industrial research laboratory. Nevertheless, Westinghouse will probably end up taking its place. I suspect the biggest impact would be a greater number of firms based around scientific/engineering tinkerers and a few more "American" innovations be discovered first elsewhere. On the other hand, Tesla might remain "productive" for a few decades longer.
 
WI No Edison... Other inventors were working on the same thing at the same time including Joseph Swan.

The real question what effect would the absence of Edison have on Nikola Tesla.

Nikola Tesla might have achieved greater fame in his own lifetime if Edison had not been around including winning the nobel prize. As a nobel prize winner he might have gotten a cozy position at a university in later life and

Also a lesser question the other effect of Edison was the creation of a little company called "General Electric". Without Edison's GE, Westinghouse might be far bigger company today and far more dominant in the energy field.

JP morgan on the other hand helped bail the country out of two economic panics in 1893 and 1907. Having an economically weakened US going into WWI could have all sorts of butterflies.
 
Without Edison how might the advancements and mass use of inventions like the incandescent light, phonograph, and electric chair be hindered? Also how might the businesses of his competitors such as Westinghouse be changed/improved?

Without Morgan what laws made in regards to big business and trusts might be changed? Also how might businesses involved in energy production such as natural gas and petroleum be affected differently from OTL?
 
Indeed but he helped to sell them to the public and make them popular. So my question is would there mass use still be possible without him?
 
Indeed but he helped to sell them to the public and make them popular. So my question is would there mass use still be possible without him?
Yes, the light bulb will replace candles unless you have an Emberverse style event.

The real question what effect would the absence of Edison have on Nikola Tesla.
It would be a Tesla-wank in my opinion.
 
I can't say it would be better off without either of them. They both benefited the world, and were negative to it, but I guess I would have to go with Morgan.
 
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