Have you ever used an electrical outlet? Surely you have, since you’re reading this on an electronic device.

If you’ve done any travel to another country, you probably know what a universal adapter is. If not, it’s a device that you plug into an electrical outlet to adapt your plug to the local type of AC voltage electrical connection.

If you look hard enough, you start seeing faces! :D

The picture above is just a glimpse of all the different electrical sockets that are available around the world. Considering the variance, it should be fairly obvious why we use universal adapters.

Just imagine that you’ve left your cozy home in the land of Type B sockets in Simple City for a vacation in Pleasantville. You’ve brought your favorite hair dryer, one of your vacation necessities to look your best. Since Pleasantville uses Type L sockets, you’re stuck with wet hair, unless you buy another hair dryer. With enough of this type of travel, in a few years you’d have a collection of hair dryers to show off to your friends!

A universal adapter is such a mundane, fundamental, and simple device that no one really ever questions its purpose. And yet, for those who travel internationally, it is a necessity. Just try to imagine how much of a nightmare traveling would be if universal adapters did not exist.

So why am I telling you all this?