Why have round pins and square pins on plugs?
Posted on November 15th, 2009
By Dr. Mrs. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwela
Nowadays, some electric gadgets come with the plug with round pins and others with square pins. So every house needs to have either extension cords or install both types of plug bases.
It is quite a problem to use an electric gadget if you are out of home ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” specially charging the mobile phones, because the pins on the plug in your gadget is one way and the plug points of the base in the place you are the other way- either round pins or square pins.
Now why, o why, did they have to invent two kinds of pins? I remember those good old days everyone used round pins and all the plug bases were round pinned. Now you have to carry a two way plug along with your gadget wherever you go.
I donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t know why we go and make life so complicated unnecessarily. Someone brought this in to make a fast buck and we bought it without thinking twice.
Why not make it a rule that the whole country must use only one kind of pins in the plug points and plug bases? It will certainly make life simpler.
Or someone must invent a simple way to turn the round one into a square one and vice versa, may be with a cover for the plugs of the different type of pins.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:50 am
In the UK the plugs have square pins. All you have to do is get an adapter. Simple.
November 18th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Anyone who has travelled through Europe will be know how even such a basic thing as taps in the bathroom operate differently in different countries. So, it is that electrical plugs also differ similarly. I believe much has been done to standardise various products across the world but it takes time before every country is prepared to comply. Until such time as this happens, the answer is to get an adapter. Those travelling overseas now have one as part of their standard ‘must carry’ items.