Obama would have banned Edison's light bulb? Rmoney is an idiot.

[Cirque du So-What]

7. Ever hear of a transformer?

Early transmission analysis

Edison's response to the limitations of direct current was to generate power close to where it was consumed (today called distributed generation) and install large conductors to handle the growing demand for electricity, but this solution proved to be costly (especially for rural areas which could not afford to build a local station[13] or to pay for massive amounts of very thick copper wire), impractical (including, but not limited to, inefficient voltage conversion) and unmanageable. Edison and his company, though, would have profited extensively from the construction of the multitude of power plants required to make electricity available in many areas.

Direct current could not easily be converted to higher or lower voltages. This meant that separate electrical lines had to be installed to supply power to appliances that used different voltages, for example, lighting and electric motors. This required more wires to lay and maintain, wasting money and introducing unnecessary hazards. A number of deaths in the Great Blizzard of 1888 were attributed to collapsing overhead power lines in New York City.[14][15]

Alternating current could be transmitted over long distances at high voltages, using lower current, and thus lower energy loss and greater transmission efficiency, and then conveniently stepped down to low voltages for use in homes and factories. When Tesla introduced a system for alternating current generators, transformers, motors, wires and lights in November and December 1887, it became clear that AC was the future of electric power distribution, although DC distribution was used in downtown metropolitan areas for decades thereafter.

Low-frequency (50–60 Hz) alternating currents can be more dangerous than similar levels of DC since the alternating fluctuations can cause the heart to lose coordination, inducing ventricular fibrillation, a deadly heart rhythm that must be corrected immediately.[16] However, any practical distribution system will use voltage levels quite sufficient for a dangerous amount of current to flow, whether it uses alternating or direct current. As precautions against electrocution are similar for both AC and DC, the technical and economic advantages of AC power transmission outweighed this theoretical risk, and it was eventually adopted as the standard worldwide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents#Early_transmission_analysis

Durr