From J. C. STOPES-ROE
Who designed the modern telephone plug?
It is not safe: it ‘locks’ into the socket, when it should only ‘click’
so that it will pull out if anyone trips on the wire. It is not durable:
the catch is easily broken off. It is not fail-safe: depending on where
the catch breaks, it either falls out too easily, or it locks in permanently.
It is not economical: if it breaks it cannot be replaced without specialist
tools, so the whole cable, if not the equipment itself, must be replaced.
It is not ergonomic: with its ‘barb’, untangling wires is like extracting
a fish-hook from a ball of wool.
There should be a special industrial design award for such incompetence!
J. C. Stopes-Roe London
Advertisement
