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Global standards aim to unify plugs and sockets worldwide
Standards govern many items from screws to batteries yet plugs remain a stubborn exception. The International Standards Organization notes 20,000 standards guiding daily life, but harmonized electrical plugs elude universal agreement despite decades of talks begun in the 1930s. Industry progress exists in CDs and DVDs, but household outlets persist as a patchwork of national designs.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Alps
Anke Varcin
International Standards Organization
Dennis Brougham
International Electrotechnical Commission
Africa
Germany
United States