Thomas Alva Edison reportedly said "there is no substitute for hard work".
Now, coming from someone usually credited with the commodification of electricity, and thus at one of the origins of dishwashers and vibrators, that has more than a little sparkle of irony, but I'll let it slide (manually). It is true that it's easier to fry an elephant using alternating currents than by rubbing your hands together really fast. But, in fairness, by liquifying the criminally deviant Topsy like that, Edison actually wanted to show the dangers inherent in the substitution of cheap electrical effect for honest, hard, smoking and steaming work.
