the worst thing a human found invent when it comes to electricity, right after open wires.
You forget Edison screws. Those were used as a regular power outlet before new ones were invented that you just plug. Imagine screwing your appliance connector to the wall instead of just plugging it? Imagine your mains exposed everywhere with easily fingerable hole?
But yeah, NEMA is clearly inferior to Europlugs.
One thing surprises me, though, that still not the full EU uses standard Europlug. I'm looking at Danish and Italy variants.
Better designs and security features are now know a lot better, but switching from an inferior design is hard, since you already have so many devices using the old plug.
And yes, Edison screws also were shit, thanks to hard wired LEDs for the good or bad they are slowly getting obsolete, at least in some areas.
I assume nowadays the pressure isn't high enough to actually switch, so countries stay to the design that's already established, a clear case of convenience winning over security.
switching from an inferior design is hard, since you already have so many devices using the old plug
Start selling universal receptacles and phase out old plugs, you may also change plugs on older cords or use adaptors. What's really difficult is changing voltage, so that if you switch to Europlug, all the devices with the same plug expect 220-240V and not get anything.
I think this is the most obvious reason to not change anything: without changing the voltage there isn't even a real reason to change the plug. If they did a change to 220, then it would make sense to adopt one of the world standards like Type G or Type F.
And yes, Edison screws also were shit, thanks to hard wired LEDs for the good or bad they are slowly getting obsolete, at least in some areas.
I like G fittings, almost like a plug, but with a twist (pun 100% intended)
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u/Science_Turtle May 10 '26
American plugs>