Re:In Loving Memory of Square Checkbox
by vel0city on Monday January 29, 2024 @08:38AM
(#39176083)
I'd say in a residential setting our switches make a lot of sense.
The light up variety are mostly to aid turning on the lights in the dark and aren't usually the default. It's nice being able to see the switch when entering a dark room.In a residential setting it's a bit more rare to have a switch control a light you're not either immediately seeing or are often imminently going to see, like a closet or looking out a window next to the switch. It's not like you're often turning on and off lights across the house, so having it light up when the room lights up is rather redundant instead of offering that dark time help. Finally, having an on light would be really redundant since you can usually easily see the switch is physically pointing up or down and they sometimes even say ON or OFF.
As for up being on and down being off, it's about being easier to toggle to the safer state. It's more likely for off to be a safer state (think changing a bulb, having it connected to a garbage disposal, etc.). It's generally easier to flip the switch down than flipping it up, so it's easier to toggle to the safe state rather than the unsafe.
The light up variety are mostly to aid turning on the lights in the dark and aren't usually the default. It's nice being able to see the switch when entering a dark room.In a residential setting it's a bit more rare to have a switch control a light you're not either immediately seeing or are often imminently going to see, like a closet or looking out a window next to the switch. It's not like you're often turning on and off lights across the house, so having it light up when the room lights up is rather redundant instead of offering that dark time help. Finally, having an on light would be really redundant since you can usually easily see the switch is physically pointing up or down and they sometimes even say ON or OFF.
As for up being on and down being off, it's about being easier to toggle to the safer state. It's more likely for off to be a safer state (think changing a bulb, having it connected to a garbage disposal, etc.). It's generally easier to flip the switch down than flipping it up, so it's easier to toggle to the safe state rather than the unsafe.