Admittedly, it's more a frustration than a matter of life and death, but it is true all the same: British plugs are awkwardly big. Tonight a graduate who became fed up with carrying round the world's thinnest laptop with what felt like the world's biggest plug won a leading design contest with his simple solution.
Min-Kyu Choi has invented the folding plug, which could replace the clunky three-pin British plug that has changed little since its inception in 1946.
His design beat off impressive competition from across the world – an eclectic mix that included fashion, newspapers, aircraft and flatpack furniture – to win the Brit Insurance design of the year award. He won a trophy and the title but, of course, it could now be much more. "It works, it looks good and I'm sure it will make him a wealthy man if it is marketed right," said Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, which organises the awards.
"He's showing that design can be about doing everyday simple things really well and in this case transform something that is universal and brutally ugly."
Sudjic said it was one of those things that made you immediately wonder why it hadn't been done before. "There has been a lot of froth around and this reminds us what good design is all about: it's about doing things intelligently."
South Korean-born Choi, who graduated from his MA design course at the Royal College of Art in London last year, was spurred by his annoyance at having to use a heavyweight British plug with his ultra-light MacBook Air laptop. His irritation was compounded when the plug scratched his prized machine while he was travelling. On his YouTube video Choi said: "When people carry laptops with the UK plugs in a bag, it always causes problems such as tearing paper or scratching laptop surfaces and sometimes it will break other stuff."
He said the traditional three-pin plug had not been designed with mobility in mind. "I've tried to make it much thinner and safer," he said.
Choi's ingenious design is less than a centimetre thick when folded. "It only needs two simple actions – turning the main pins and opening the cover."
Artist Antony Gormley, who chaired this year's judging panel, called the invention thought-through, responsive and modest. "The folding plug shows how intelligent, elegant and inventive design can make a difference to everyone's life," he said.
The awards are in their third year and Choi follows Shepard Fairey, who won last year for his Barack Obama stencil poster, and Yves Behar and his one laptop per child project in 2008.
The awards use about 50 spotters across the world to nominate examples of good design. The 2010 shortlist also included Alexander McQueen's spring/summer collection, a social housing project in Monterrey, Mexico, and a twin-seat electric aircraft from China.
The plug and all the shortlisted designs will be on display at the Design Museum, London SE1, until 31 October.