Selfish power cords

[epepke]

(I am calling this "technology", unless there's a better catagory....)

I have a powerstrip. It has 6 outlets.

Of my many electrical appliances, I can only fit 3 items at one time. Every damn plug, just about, is bulky and L-shaped, thus covering two or three sockets. I used to solve this problem by placing those cords at the end, hanging off of the strip. That was 2 years ago.

Then- things changed. The world turned kinda weird on me.

Friends shyed away from me, the smallest tasks took a Herculean effort to achieve, and this whole power cord thing is just tearing me up inside.....

Is there some new safety requirement that plugs need to be designed annoying and large now? Is it a conspiracy by electrical manufactures to sell more adapters this way?

My cell phone charger works the other way. It's narrow and elongated to be at the side of the power bar.

I think that most wall warts are designed the other way because they are heavy and are more stable when hanging from a normally placed wall socket.

As to why they're still heavy, I don't know. We've had switching power supplies for a long time. Perhaps 60 hz transformers are still cheaper.

 

[goodgirlonhere]

Reason to it

I hate to put some reasoning behind this "frustration in mankind's devices" but there may be a reason for power strips not supporting ALL electrical plug ins. Typically they are designed to support regular appliances or items that don't need the extra power supplies on the ends. The kind of appliances that require the additional power source usually require more power. The plugs are designed NOT to fit into power strips but straight to the wall. This prevents additonal "pull down" on the circuit. Essentially preventing a "brown out" or blowing fuses.
It isn't always "120 V" running through your house. It fluctuates constantly. The electrical devices plugged into the wall socket must be designed to overcome these fluctuations. This includes your power strip. A power strip may prevent power surges from ruining the equipment but it may not be designed to supply constant power to each circuit if all in use. It basically comes down to supply a constant voltage to each source that is the cause of the frustration of NOT being able to use all plugs.
Yes, alot of plugs are getting larger. That is most likely due to the reduction in size of the electronic gadget it is being plugged into. Eliminating the internal power source may decrease the size of the object. Think notebook computers....
By the way, I am an Electrician and Electronic Technician...

 

[Chris Haynes]

What we need to do is remodel our houses to put in enough power outlets. I went to an open house where one room seemed to be designed for an office... there were outlets every 3 feet or so on one wall:

 

[American]

Why is the Little Guy always getting screwed? That's what I want know.