Mildly Interesting

Fuck yeah, technology connections.

summary: the holes are almost never (purposely) used to secure the plug in the socket. it is often just for manufacturing reasons (but not always, as in this case). it is included in the specifications as an optional feature, so that the holes are not made too big, or in the wrong place.

In the cheap one, we have two perfectly flat brass pieces pressing against each other.

I'll bet you any ammount you want, that's not brass. It's iron with brass coating.

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/udNXMAflbU8

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

I knew exactly what video you linked before I clicked it.

It's not surprising. If you're first to adopt something by the time you realize how it could be improved you're locked into what you did. It happens with all kinds of early adoption. I noticed it a lot in Japan which picks up tech really quickly but as a result has been left with a bunch of crufty old systems. Like they were way ahead on contactless payment, but now they have a bunch of complex and confusion payment systems and lots of them don't support credit cards while the rest of the world just has contactless credit cards.

Common misconception about the voltage though, the US does have a 240v system (well in houses, some places have three phase power which gets weird). The breakers can be wired to give 120v or 240v. The large appliances like driers or electric car chargers and things that do need a large ampunt of current get wired up for that. It's really only a slightly slower electric kettle to deal with as a minor inconvenience. Or maybe if you wanted an absolutely enormous electric space heater or something, but those are dangerous as it is. Not a lot of things used need more than the 1800 watt maximum. As far as I can tell it's just a relic of history, Edison ran his generators at about 110v originally and that's the voltage original light bulb filaments wanted and higher voltage filaments weren't used until after the US had already been electrifying to a good extent. Theoretically 120v might be a little safer from a getting shocked standpoint, but electrocutions are pretty rare as it is, just a historical artifact and not a conscious design choice as far as I can tell (and yes, volts do matter too, not just amps. Especially if what's being shocked has very high resistance, like human skin).

Technology connections has a fun video on this too in addition to the plug hole video someone linked elsewhere: https://youtu.be/jMmUoZh3Hq4?si=4a1SCYOZUy-1z2h_

yeah but it looks like a funny face!

I didn't know that schuko plugs are the norm for most Europe countries, I thought it was a German thing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko

I feel like the US has a very strong resistance to change regarding standards.

The 110v for example used to be the norme in France, but they changed it to 220v in the 50' and then 230v in the 90'.

Same thing for the plugs, the paper size, the measurement system ...

Many people from other countries fret about the unsafe plugs in the US. They of course do not have the same level of safety, but it also doesn't appear to matter. I have never been shocked inserting or removing a US plug. I don't know and haven't heard of anyone who has. People do get shocked, but for other reasons.

I think the distinction is we don’t use general purpose 240v receptacles. We only use them as dedicated circuits for built in major appliances. Historically that was sufficient.

We also don’t really use 20a outlets. I don’t know why, especially now that we require 20a circuits in a few places, but you rarely see 20a outlets or appliances with 20a plugs, even though a lot of small appliances could benefit from a little extra power

So is there really a need? Electric kettles are a perfect scenario but what else? Most other use cases for 240v are “built in” appliances not likely to move (welder, air conditioner, laundry, range, etc). Space heaters and hot plates are already dangerous enough that allowing double the current seems like a hazard

And Japanese and Canada and Mexico. Don't forget about our homies.

European plugs are too big and bulky for our liking.

Older receptacles had a design that would hug the holes to hold the plug in place. It’s a holdover for people with older houses.

This is the first thing that came to mind. If you didn't link it, I was lol. I love this channel.

Denmark's looks happy to supply power

They are a byproduct of the manufacturing process. There's a Technology Connections video about it that I'm too lazy to lookup on my phone.