Quote:
Originally Posted by dc lindberg
...still wondering why the industry could not have stuck to one standard in cars/vehicles... (stupid!).
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basically the cig lighter socket is originally American. The DIN sockets (as the name suggests) are a German design that allows for much higher current.
The whole world is divided into American vs German standards ... but as German standards are usually higher or more logical, everyone else tends to adopt the German systems in the end.
You see it with vehicle standards ... where the whole world accepts the ECE standards and vehicle regulations (predominantly German), but the USA is the only country that doesnt .... they have their SAE standards. So the whole world has yellow indicator lights, while American cars have red indicators. The whole world uses H series halogen bulbs, H1, H3, H4, H7, H9, H11 etc ... but the SAE has its own ones, 9005, 9006 etc. Apperently there have been negotiations in recent years about unifying the global standards for vehicles ... which is a way of saying the Americans are close to changing to the German standards and doing away with the SAE standards.
Most bolts are now all German spec bolts ... metric, with stuff like 4.8, 8.8, 10.9 stamped onto the head. They are of course DIN standards for bolt strength.
Even things as bland as office stationery ... Americans have letter size paper, the rest of the world has German standard A4 paper - because the ratio of the length of the sides makes them extremely scaleable, thus A0, A1, A2, A3, A5 etc.
So in the end, I am sure the world will move to DIN sockets and plugs ... eventually.