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Courtesy of BoingBoing, here’s a photo of at least five different electrical outlets that are available at each seat in a European conference room.

It’s not just the power outlets that are different. The outlets provide different voltages and frequencies of alternating current (AC), depending upon the standards. This Wikipedia article has a good discussion that I used to develop a key for the above photo. Going from left to right:

1. Type G or BS 1363: 240v, 50 hZ. Used in the UK, Singapore and South Africa
2. Type E: 220v, 50 hZ. Used in France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and other European countries.
3. I have no idea what standard the third plug uses.
4. Type J or SEV 1011: 250v, 50 hZ. A Swiss model.
5. Type B, NEMA, PBG: 120v, 60 hZ. The standard 3-pin plug used in the US and Canada. Japanese plugs look similar, but use 100v and 50 hZ.
6. Again, I have no clue which plug this might be.

Every couple of months, someone asks me about a power issue. It might be electric plugs, battery life or power adapters. International travelers sometimes learn a hard lesson about voltage. If an outlet supplies too little voltage, the device will not work well or at all. This is a common issue for European visitors to Hawaii, as our 120v outlets provide only half the power that a European device might need it.

If the outlet provides too much voltage, the device might start smoking or burning. American visitors to Europe sometimes encounter this issue when they force a 12ov Type B plug into a 220v or higher European outlet.

I’ve long thought that the standard USB type A connector might become a standard electrical connector for low-power devices. USB usually provides only 5v of direct current (DC) at 100 or 500 milliamperes. That’s either 1 or 2.5 watts, so USB only useful for charging or running small devices.

DC is the common standard for batteries, and is also used inside almost every electronic device. Batteries have a limited lifespan, even when recharged.

But USB is an international standard, so more and more digital cameras, mobile phones and small devices use this interface for charging. Better yet, perhaps some company will start offering USB power outlets that can be installed directly into a wall.