For the first decade and a half of photography (1839- ca.1855) the daguerreotype was THE dominant medium, not displaced until the advent of wet collodion. So to say that Daguerre had nothing to do with the invention of photography is at best horrendously misinformed. Certainly he was more a promoter than an inventor (he owed an intellectual debt to Nicephore Niepce among others), but he did make the connection between silver iodide and mercury as a developing agent, and he did get his process recognized and published before William Henry Fox-Talbot got his recognized. There is a tremendous amount to be said for being first to market, even if your product is flawed/inferior to its successors. And have you ever seen a real live daguerreotype? If you've ever held and contemplated one, you'd not be casting aspersions in his direction for his contributions to photography.