A discussion came up amongst friend about devices that charge via USB socket, such as phones, Nintendo DS etc. We then went on to talk about some of the solutions for having somewhere to plug in your USB device to charge.
Dan pointed out that the Nintendo Wii’s USB ports are always powered and so there is one solution, Ian mentioned that there’s now multi gang power adapters that have USB on them too.
Alex Thompson mentioned that you can also get face plates for wall sockets that feature USB ports too. Alex went on to suggest why not make a wall socket that the three pin holes, as used here in the UK, are also each USB sockets.
The sizes certainly aren’t that disimilar and I could imagine that they be made with a mechanism for delivering the correct power and also for shielding disused ports appropriately.
I’d follow this up with my own suggestion that power and usb/whatever-new-tech-replaces-usb sections of wall sock face plates should be removable. After all you don’t want to have to get all the sockets rewired each time they change the standard for charging such devices.
