So here they are, for comparison. The one on the left, with it's heavy-duty looks and ample design, is the British standard. To Queen Ginger, it seems kind of fitting, really. Almost orthopedic looking, like QE II's footwear! It looks like it could withstand a bombing, which may be why the Brits built it to be so substantial!
In the center is the rather delicate "Europlug", used extensively across the United States of Europe the European Union. Rather demure in design, this plug has surely been the bane of every American tourist who has ever tried to use it with a converter to charge a cell phone, read their email, or dry their hair! The outlets are slightly recessed to provide some slight hope to Europeans that their appliance will actually stay plugged in, and this makes it even harder to try to plug in a voltage converter, an adapter plug, and then the big block plug that charges whatever it is you've depleted. And don't EVEN get Queen G started on what it's like to try to keep all of that connected on a smelly Italian train! She's pretty sure this design was developed by the French, as a way to discourage American tourism across the Continent!
Finally, on the right is the familiar plug used in North America. Rather small and diminutive by comparison, this plug appears to be designed for cheap manufacture and throw-away design. Interestingly enough, this is also the outlet that Japan adopted, which seems to prove the Queens point, don't you think? The best feature of the American plug, however, is the 2 little divots on each side of the blade, which mate with matching bumps inside outlet, which will keep your appliance firmly plugged until it's time to replace it in, say, a year or 2!
Queen Ginger leaves you, as always, with a question to ponder. How is it that Australia got their own plug, instead of the British one? And why did her cell phone not come with a plug for there?
2 comments:
i never knew they were all so different....
xxalainaxx
Oh, those wacky Aussies!
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