We can't agree which one is best. When Tom Scott proclaimed his home plug to be the best I scoffed. I thought my own home plug is better. But in reality I think they all suck in their own way, every single one of them.

I think a new more research driven approach like the USB-C design would be better, something that protects your fingers, is easier to locate when behind furniture or in the dark, works in more than a single position, is not going to stab you if you leave it on the floor, does not get stuck in the socket, I think it might even be possible to add a fuse without making it larger than a typical phone charger, but to be honest, the smaller the better. One can only dream.

[–] ranzispa@mander.xyz 3 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Don't know where all that research driven approach led us... USB-A worked perfectly, nobody ever had a problem with it; except having to turn it around a couple times to figure out how to plug it (which could be solved with a coloured dot on plug and cable). USB-C had the advantage of being a little bit smaller, but it sucks in any other aspect. While I might have broken a couple USB-A cables and plugs in my life, I do not expect an USB-C cable to last much longer than one year.

[–] Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 months ago

Usb-c has already proven itself to be reliable, it was designed to be reversible, it is easy to insert and remove with good tactile feedback and is compact while having lots of versatility. All traits I would love to see in an universal power plug.

To me USB-A was what schuko is today. It works and is mostly fine but I'm sure we could do better if we put our minds to it. The problem with todays plugs and sockets is they all work just about, enough that no one with any authority is going to bother with the topic. Any improvement needs to be by an unrealistically huge margin to be worth the investment required.

load more comments (3 replies)

load more comments (17 replies)