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Power supply standardization

Over the weekend, a friend was relating how a co-worker fried a terabyte RAID array by connecting it to the wrong power supply. Which got me thinking about how lame the entire hardware industry has been in implementing power supplies, plugs, and adapters.

Given that most hardware uses the same electricity in similar volumes, why is it that both of my laptops have different power supply plugs (one IBM, one Toshiba)? And why is it that my IBM T40 power supply is different than my cube-neighbor’s T60? And why does that same person’s Dell have a different plug than the T40, the T60, or my Toshiba? There’s 5 laptops within a 10ft radius of me right now, each of which requires its own brick with a model-specific plug on one end.

Its equivalent to Honda, Toyota, and Ford each requiring a brand-specific nozzle at a gas station. Same gas, different nozzles. Does that sound like a good idea?

You’d think it would be in the hardware industry’s best interest to standardize power supplies in a few simple form factors (small, medium, large?) as has taken place with USB - for laptops, for peripherals, etc. It should be as simple as “if the plug fits, it works.” It would let me charge my laptop off my wife’s adapter at home. It would have prevented the frying of that terabyte drive. It would reduce the number of bricks, cables, and adapters that one must travel with. It would open up the aftermarket, in the way the iPod universal plug has for Apple accessories. And, it would help manufacturers focus on adding value to their products - not spending budget on plugs and bricks.

Basically it looks like all upside to me.

So - the question manufacturers should be asking is where they deliver value to consumers; the answer is not via power cable - that’s just for delivering electricity.

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