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193 Comments
- skipvt, on 10/30/2009, -3/+320Can't we all just get a prong?!?
- 0tis, on 10/30/2009, -16/+213"The British were still inventing new kinds of plug without any regard for the rest of the world"
*Ahem* I think you'll find that the rest of the world were still failing to use decent plugs, without any regard for Britain. - Kerrigore, on 10/30/2009, -4/+178What is this, a plug for the UN? How revolting. It may shock you to learn this, but currently on the international standards circuit no one cares about watt you charge them to do. If you try to force them you will meet with resistance; they will sock it to you, and let me tell you, that hertz... ohm my! Wire you so pushy? I can think of ample reason not to be so negative. I'm positive that we can conduct a more enlightening discussion if you give up your un farad vantage.
- Suricou, on 10/30/2009, -7/+148The british plug is indeed superior in many ways.
- Safety: It has it's own fuse, and the sockets make it impossible to stuck anything in except the plugs. No children poking cutlery in.
- Mechanically: Once it's in, it's not coming out unless deliberatly removed.
- Power: 13A, while most plugs can handle only 8 or 10.
The only downside is the size. - lantza, on 10/30/2009, -1/+101FOOKIN PRONGS!!!
- linagee, on 10/30/2009, -4/+102Dugg for "orgy of plugs"
- Pingspike, on 10/30/2009, -4/+83Somewhere in all this Brit Bashing they should mention the NEW folding plug that is still safely fused but significantly smaller.
It also retains the sturdy 3 point anchoring in the wall with the rectangular pegs/pins.
http://digg.com/design/Folding_plug_for_the_UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6DvjKkGT6s - ryanvl, on 10/30/2009, -3/+79That's what she said
- sab0tage, on 10/30/2009, -0/+68If the cable were to be pulled from the plug, the wires would be pulled out in the order positive, neutral then ground due to the length of the wires required to connect to the pins, so it will remain earthed longer.
It's a remarkably well thought out design. - anarcurt, on 10/30/2009, -5/+63America will never standardize with the rest of the world. We can't even get the metric system used.
- schumacc, on 10/30/2009, -5/+62That's what she said.
- padd0016, on 10/30/2009, -1/+53Fookin' prongs!!!
- sageerrant, on 10/30/2009, -0/+51Eighteen, by my count. Good show, sir.
- Suricou, on 10/30/2009, -0/+48Ah, you must have one of the really old sockets.
Modern ones include a protective cover just inside that entirely blocks the power holes, making it impossible to put anything in them. The only way to remove the cover is to push something into the earth hole - this is why the earth pin on the plug is slightly longer. It goes in, pushes the cover out the way, and thus clears the path for the power pins to enter. - guardianx, on 10/30/2009, -3/+46If there is one thing that the UK does the best.... its the plug...
How often am I in other countries where flimsy plugs fall out of the socket enought that i could get electrocuted trying to put them back in.... At least with a UK plug you know when its in its in... - Tanktunker, on 10/30/2009, -2/+4115 amps at 110v is less than 13A at 220v.
Not to mention using 15 amps or more means everything you hook up will get hot much faster. - LarkStew, on 10/30/2009, -1/+40How many years have you been waiting to use that line?
;-) - Angostura, on 10/30/2009, -4/+42I have to say that as a Brit, I always find the bendy flimsy bits of metal that you foreigners use rather alarming. Our plugs are the plugs of Telford, of Isembard Kingdom-Brunel. Plugs you can stand by - or indeed stand on.
Yes, they are a bit big tho. - 0tis, on 10/30/2009, -3/+40Having used British plugs all my life, I can't say I've ever seen the size as much of a downside; in fact, because of the stability advantage I'd say I prefer it to a smaller two-pin plug. But that's a matter of taste, I guess :)
What I did want to say is that children's fingers can still fit inside those sockets... I know someone who tells a tale of being thrown bodily across the room after trying it in her younger days! That's always going to be a problem, though. - 0tis, on 10/30/2009, -2/+39Ohhhhh man :(
Dugg. - TheVirus, on 10/30/2009, -3/+39Why am I not surprised that the Japanese plug looks like a happy face?
- ryanonfire, on 10/30/2009, -5/+40Is Australia the only one with switches next to them? http://rsc.anu.edu.au/watoc08/images/plug.jpg
- Frostek, on 10/30/2009, -0/+34No, the UK's plugs are very similar.
- dfross, on 10/30/2009, -0/+33No, almost all british plugs have this too.
- TexMexRex, on 10/30/2009, -1/+33Thankfully cars across the world use 12V DC. I have a $20 inverter that makes 120V 60HZ from any car in the world, and can charge my laptop/iPhone/AA batteries etc. Hell, I even charged off a M1A1 Abrams tank in GW1, though I had to rig some clips to one of it's 24 batteries.
- bagelmaster, on 10/30/2009, -0/+30The electrical engineers of digg are cumming their pants to all the puns in that paragraph
- BenRoth, on 10/30/2009, -5/+33This problem seems to be hardwired into the world.
- skipvt, on 10/30/2009, -1/+28Ohm my god, I'm shocked you could use all of those electricity references.
- FairDinkumMate, on 10/30/2009, -2/+28I live in Brazil & the changeover isn't actually that bad. The old style socket was simply removed from sale everywhere at once & all products changed over with their plugs pretty quickly as well. To start, most people just used adapters & power boards(for PC & entertainment areas) but anytime you buy something new it has the new plug & all new buildings, etc have the new socket. I'm sure it'll take a few years but it's been surprisingly less hassle than expected.
- cdnbmatt, on 10/30/2009, -1/+26HA!
Type K looks like a happy little character
Type I looks sad AND
Type H looks like an angry asian - AdmiralAcbar, on 10/30/2009, -0/+24Grounding.
- Crosshare, on 10/30/2009, -0/+23Travel protip: When purchasing converters before you go, make sure you buy at least two different brands. Nothing sucks more than getting there and realizing your converter doesn't work. Also, make sure you plug in something cheap the first time in case it gets blown up rather than your $1200.00 laptop.
- elnerdo, on 10/30/2009, -1/+23Why is this specifically directed at Americans?
- inactive, on 10/30/2009, -3/+24I agree britain rules ***** yeah
- venom8599, on 10/30/2009, -2/+19If you look at the map I think you'll see that North America is pretty well standardized with the Type A and Type B (NEMA) connectors with a modular and sensible design. As opposed to large parts of the world with a giant hodgepodge of plugs. Also note that the large red section of Europe would be broken up a little more if you split Type C, E, and F, which though physically very similar, aren't always compatible (in terms of the connector and the voltages and current they're rated for).
- SamSlater, on 10/30/2009, -3/+20British plugs just stay in their sockets! Lots of times while in LA I'd put my mobile phone on charge and go do something for a few hours only to come back and see that the weight of the adapter had pulled itself out of the socket slightly and my phone still wasn't charged. Damn annoying. US and EU (2 pronged) plugs all have this issue.
On the downside, a British plug is just a beast when you want to pack it away with your laptop in a holder/cover. - BoneStamp, on 10/30/2009, -0/+16High quality receptacles shouldn't allow an adapter to fall out, but if you were in a hotel then they may have cheaped out. I've lived in North America most of my life and fall outs are very rare. That said, the possibility of a fall out demonstrates bad design.
- 0tis, on 10/30/2009, -0/+15That makes sense, it was a while ago. And you know what? I never even knew that even though I use those plugs every day... so, thank you.
- DrSalvador, on 10/30/2009, -1/+16Should have labeled the map graphic "Watts Out There".
- Aard88, on 10/30/2009, -1/+16You use an article from October of 1999 to predict that the 12 volt standard auto battery is on the way out. 10 years later I don't see many water cooled alternators/starters and no 42 volt car batteries either.
- stubear, on 10/30/2009, -0/+14That's actually pretty cool. I particularly liked the end of the video with the "power strip" allowing people to plug in multiple folded plugs while still folded.
- ScaryUK, on 10/30/2009, -1/+15no, almost all British *sockets* have them! :)
- Atario, on 10/31/2009, -0/+14"The electrical engineers of digg are cumming their pants to all the puns in that paragraph"
Surely you mean "discharging in their pants"? - madeingermany, on 10/31/2009, -1/+14How many inches are in a mile?
And why is pound abbreviated lb?
And why is ounce both a measure of weight and of volume? - ScaryUK, on 10/30/2009, -0/+12I was in a cab the other week which had 3 things all plugged into the cigarette lighter socket, it occurred to me how strange it is that they've never come up with a better standard for powering devices in cars. Cigarette lighter sockets are a bit rubbish
- gl77, on 10/30/2009, -1/+13Royale with cheese.
- waydee, on 10/30/2009, -0/+12It has a lower profile than most plugs though because the cable exits from the bottom - the entire thing sticks out about 2cm from the socket.
- Suricou, on 10/30/2009, -2/+13Most polarised, grounded plugs do. It's inherent in their purpose: They require two pins of similar size, plus a third pin that cannot possibly be confused with one of the two in wireing. Symmetry is prefered for asthetic reasons. So you have three pins in triangular formation.
Human see faces everywhere. If you just have three dots in a triangle, you're half-way there already :-) - quantumslip, on 10/30/2009, -0/+11argh, i forgot my adapter!
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU - shnuffy, on 10/30/2009, -0/+11Did you... think of that? Well played.
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