After an hour-long detour through Wikipedia's various power plugs articles (shocking how many of them there are), I have to ask this: historical reasons aside, isn't there any kind of consensus on which is the "best" plug/socket system (in purely objective terms)? The comparison table in [2] would have us believe BS1363 has the most features, but surely, there must have been more improvements in plug design since that huge lump was designed in the 1940s?
Their rules require different fuses according to the appliance's rated current and wire diameter, so no. I think you could make a smart outlet that switches fuses according to what's plugged in, but it would cost a fortune.
In the UK, until fairly recently, it was illegal to sell a product with a plug attached. Consumers had to wire their own plugs to their electrical devices before use.
Before that time, almost everything (certainly everything I purchased) came without a plug and you had to buy a plug and wire it yourself. Probably because these things are expensive, and costs could be reduced by leaving them out.
I have a suspicion you have it exactly backwards. It's now a requirement for some|many devices to have non-removable moulded plugs (although they still have replaceable fuses).
I'm not certain on the exact motivation, but I think it's a mix of preventing people doing it wrong, and better mechanical properties (especially strain-relief) of moulded plugs.
It's also required now that the live/neutral pins be partially insulated (the 1/3rd closest to the plug or so) to prevent shock hazards to people curling their fingers around the plug when inserting or removing.
It wasn't uncommon for us to have spare cord and plugs either, although the change of law to require moulded plugs obviated the need for any of it.
I remember us having to wire up kettles, lamps, and irons when I was a kid. And you'd sometimes go to antique (or second hand) shops and come across old appliances that had no cord attached. Anecdotally, we bought an old style telephone that we then had to wire back up.
That being said, I can't corroborate any claim that this was backed by legislation.
It's a huge lump, but it handles 240 v at 13 amp and does so without burning down houses or killing people who plug it in.
I have no idea how many sockets are installed in UK houses and how many plugs are fitted to UK equipment but a new plug / socket design would have to be God-Tier to justify the cost of replacement.
Also, I've seen people wiring plugs and it's sometimes scary, so anything that avoids the need for many people to botch a new plug onto their equipment is a good thing. And I guess this is where most improvement has happened - plugs that can be built quickly, cheaply and safely in Chinese factories for use in UK. You can change the fuse, but the plug is molded and you can't take it apart.
you misunderstand my intent: I was merely interested in finding out if there were any new ideas in plug design than what was indicated in the wiki article.
The IEC 60906-1 design linked by ricardobeat above, for example, can handle 250V at 16A and is way smaller and more compatible with other european standards. It was designed in the mid 80s, taking advantage of the new injection molding processes popularized in the late 70s.
I was wondering if there were any other designs that took advantage of the newer technologies since: I seem to recall a concept plug designed by an art student that was on HN a few years back that folded up rather neatly: does anyone know what happened to that?
The sad part is even with all the AC plugs, there are multitudes more DC plugs. I guess USB is kind of a universal standard, but I really wish Apple had licensed their MagSafe to everyone to make a world DC standard wall plug.
