Armstrong was
the more impressive in actually putting the tube to
work.
DeForest is painted rather blatantly as nothing less than a slimeball
by the T.H. Lee chapter cited by the previous web site:
http://www-smirc.stanford.edu/papers/chapter1.pdf
In legal proceedings attempting to claim credit for the superhet,
DeForest made a perfect idiot of himself. He didn't have a clue.
It's tough for a techie to go into court and come out looking smart.
You can be the world's best expert on some important area of
technology and come out completely skewered every which way
from Sunday if you try to look like a smarty-pants.
Just being the
expert who was in the thick of things puts you at a real
disadvantage in almost every legal situation, no matter how
humble you try to be.
And even if your side wins it doesn't mean you're gonna be a
happy guy. Look what happened to Armstrong.
All these legal tribulations from the early 1900's seem just as relevant
(as business and/or moral lessons) today in the 21st century.
Tim.