The reason why the world is now stuck with no less than 15 different styles of plugs and wall outlets, is because many countries preferred to develop a plug of their own, instead of adopting the US standard. In one sense those countries were actually right, though: the wobbly American plugs and their uninsulated prongs are almost prehistoric in terms of design and they are notoriously unsafe.

For decades, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) tried to develop a universal domestic power plug, but time and again political and economic issues threw a spanner in the works. In 1986, the IEC finally presented the universal standard plug (type N) to the world, but unfortunately the initial enthusiasm had dampened. It wasn’t until 2007 that Brazil became the first country in the world to adopt type N as its standard wall outlet and plug top. The establishment of type N as the sole standard was motivated by the urge to sort out the motley collection of plugs in use throughout the country.

Many Latin-American, African and Asian countries are still in the same situation that Brazil used to be in. Some of those countries have taken a short-sighted approach by allowing so-called “universal” or “multi-standard” wall outlets to be installed in properties in order to solve the problem, but those often violate basic safety standards. Standardizing on type N (or another safe and preferably widely used earthed plug system such as F, G or I, for that matter) should of course be self-evident. But some countries just never learn. In 2006, Thailand deemed it necessary to develop a whole new power outlet system of its own, albeit compatible with type C, which is currently gradually being phased in. The mind boggles!