Yeah, most electrical accessories like power cords are cheaper in the U.S. than anywhere in Europe (Just like books, clothes, cars, food, houses.... Sigh!)
I grew up with the British down=on, but having gotten used to it in America I prefer up=on as well. I was already used to this arrangement on a lot of imported Japanese test equipment anyway.
I was going to ask about Austrian color codes before the European standard came in. I'd read that Germany used to use the black/gray/red scheme, so I wondered if it had also been used in Austria.
I've often tried to find out what was used in other European countries before brown/blue/green-yellow, but I've never had any luck tracking down the details.
Getting a list of the other countries' systems might give a clue as to why the present colors were selected as a common standard.
The U.K. adopted the common European colors in 1970, but only for flexible cords on appliances. Fixed wiring cables stayed with the original colors, which leads to some conflict (although the original green for ground was later changed to green-yellow).
By the way, due to trading & historical factors, the Republic of Ireland has generally followed British practice.
[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 12-27-2001).]
