Why are so many electrical plugs designed in such a way that they cover adjacent sockets?
In: Engineering
All the electric devices that have this issue run on different power than that which comes out of the socket. So they are build like this:
* A plug that connects to the socket
* A chunk that converts normal socket power to what the device needs
* The device itself
Take a desktop computer vs a laptop computer. The desktop simply connects to the socket with a cable. Everything else is inside the desktop itself. This is possible because the desktop is already pretty big and heavy and doesn’t need to be portable. So what you get is plug -> cable -> device (internal converter)
For a laptop on the other hand people want it to be as small and light as possible, so the converter needs to be outside the computer itself. The converter is generally too big tough to realistically fit into a blocky plug. So what you get is plug -> cable -> converter -> cable -> device
Now for a lot of smaller devices you don’t need a converter as big but the device itself is so small that you really dont want the converter inside the device either. Even considering how small a phone charger is you probably wouldn’t want it permanently attached to your phone. But the charger IS small enough that you *can* integrate it into a blocky plug. This way you get plug -> converter -> cable -> device and save yourself the thick cable. This keeps your device small, saves money on the thick cable, reduces the box size by not having to include the large cable and simplifies the design. Is it going to inconvenience your customers by blocking adjacent sockets? Yes, but everyone is doing it so you’re not standing out in a negative way. And anything you can do about it would make your device more expensive and thus less competitive.
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