The Folding Plug

Innovation on a simple idea is something that most people appreciate. When it’s done well it can give you that horrid moment of realisation where you think to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Enter the folding plug, an innovation created for the very purpose of making every single user of the standard UK plug hide with embarrassment and shame, in the knowledge that they didn’t think of it before.

The fact is it’s a fantastic idea. Anything that is space saving and well thought out but yet has the same functionality as the existing technology it replaces gets my vote.

The common british plug that we all know and love was designed back in the 1940’s. It is a great design too, in the respect that if you still have something electric from the 1940’s, it probably won’t work any longer, but the plug will be just fine. More than 60 years on since the original design was launched to the public, a 29 year old design student who has lived in the UK for a mere eight years has finally redesigned the enormous original plug.

Hailing from South Korea, Min-kyu Choi discovered the pain hundreds of other UK plug users have come across in their lifetime, a scratched laptop as a result of the power plug acting like a bed of nails against the laptop. It then dawned on him that the UK plug is an ungainly tool with three great big daggers sticking out in a fixed position, so he set about the task of slimming it down.

In an age filled with slimline laptops such as the Macbook Air or the entire range of various netbooks, it makes complete sense to minimize the space taken up by the power plug. You only need look at the tiny size of modern laptop’s power supply transformers to see that size matters, so the folding plug really does fit in with this general ethos and ensures that there are no changes of standard socket in your home – you keep the sockets just how they’ve always been.

Some more pictures for illustration:

Simple: Twist, Fold & Plug.

There has even been more development on the idea, allowing for a three way multiplug adapter about the same size as the 1940’s device, only with the ability to accept three of the new folded plug design, in their folded position – all with USB docks for charging modern electronic devices.

The most impressive thing about this innovation is that it meets all the necessary safety standards and is even fused and appears, at least from the photos, to be production ready. Happy days for UK plug users, hopefully a lot less laptops will be scratched and a lot of space will be saved in your laptop bag. Here’s hoping that it is accepted by all and fitted to the next electronic device you purchase!

You can read the official article on the designers website here: Folding Plug System