I don't even really care if Edison invented anything or not, because he was a douchebag. I don't even care if he ultimately believed AC was dangerous, advocating its use in electric chairs and electrocuting animals publicly is an attempt to use FUD and hysteria to win an argument that he was apparently unable to win by civilized means (and for good reason, because he was wrong).
Also, his aggressive filing of patents doesn't exactly endear me to him either. He held 1,093 patents at his death; did he really invent 1,093 things? He seems to have been an early player in the game of patenting every incremental improvement to everything, which as we see in software hinders rather than promotes "the progress of science and useful art."
I think you might be right that he was an early player of a patent filing game that has grown to become rather controversial in some spheres, namely software. The only way to know, besides being alive at that time, is to do the historical research.
Can you recommend any primary sources to learn more about this history (besides the patents themelves)? It sounds like you have read some?
On the bright side, not everyone took the Edison approach. Are you familiar with the history of Hans Bessemer and his approach to patents?
Also, his aggressive filing of patents doesn't exactly endear me to him either. He held 1,093 patents at his death; did he really invent 1,093 things? He seems to have been an early player in the game of patenting every incremental improvement to everything, which as we see in software hinders rather than promotes "the progress of science and useful art."