I don't like the ring circuits as used in
this country either, and I believe it's time they were abandoned. Any reasons given for their adoption in the 1940s are really no longer valid, if indeed they ever were.
I can imagine that the situation was very different 50 years back: The flexible cables were of rubber or cloth and wore out rather soon causing short circuits. I suspect silk or whatever they used also caught fire rather easily, so fused plugs were probably a great idea. Once they had come up with the idea of a fused plug, they took it one step further and put a big 30A fuse in the fusebox.
But, has anyone had a modern plastic cord that short circuited? (Apart from those used for irons) What are the odds that the cable to my telly will become damaged enough to cause a short? And that it catch fire if it does short?
