it’s an optional part of the specification whose purpose is not given in the specification but (without any real evidence or authority), I’m going to guess that it might be useful for manufacturing purposes.
Not sure I would have actually clicked on a video entitled “Twenty Minutes of Random guesses as to why Plugs Have Holes in Them, None of Which Are Particularly Satisfying”.
And peculiarly, the most likely reason (that it reduces the amount of brass used by 10%) was never mentioned at all. (According to my best random guess).
Another excellent theory that was neglected is that it improves the species through natural selection because it encourages the unfit to twist bare current-carrying wires through the holes.
I once had a fan that had an electrical problem with it in manufacruting, and instead of a full recall the manufacturer sent a dongle to fix it that you plugged the fan into, and used the holes to permanently lock the dongle on. Only actual use I’ve ever seen for them.
He does a brilliant job of presenting the most mundane/strange things in a way that actually captures and holds your interest. I binged heavily on his channel some months ago. I still tell people about brown and orange.
When my kids were young, and hadn’t done their household chores to earn time on the Nintendo, I would thread a thin, fluorescent-colored zip-tie (not easily replaceable) through the holes so that they couldn’t plug it in without me finding out.
I suppose you could do the same with a small enough padlock.
“Interesting?” The subject certainly interests me but I found the video maddening. The guy spends seven minutes of a twenty-minute video pretending to be funny before even attempting to answer the question. It takes him another seven minutes to come up with " Well, I really don’t know, but it might be something like this." One would think this would end the video, but he rambles on for another six minutes speculating vaguely and asking the audience what they think. Basically only one-third of the video is relevant at all, that third contains about two minutes of information.
I like his dry sense of humor, but humor is subjective.
As to whether the video could have been shorter, he brought receipts. He positively demonstrated the lack of detents in multiple current US sockets, showing us the internals. And he looked up patent drawings and standards documents.
I continue to be impressed by his videos. He’s a one man production house, doing his own research, writing, producing, lighting, performing, video and audio recording, editing, graphics (his weak spot, but adequate to purpose) and social media posts. He’s creating an entire TV show a week, all on his own. And he does a good job.
Even so, someone dumb determined enough will still evidently manage to bumble their way around their multi-layered safety features. There were what, 4 separate pops in that video? 5?
