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I wonder how long it'll take before we have actual USB toasters and grills...

Apparently USB 3.1 -- called SuperSPEED+ (not to be confused with "Full Speed" (USB 1), "Hi-Speed" (USB 2) or "SuperSpeed" (without +, USB 3.0) supports up to 100 W.

A toaster takes 800-1500 W. But you could get a USB-compatible incandescent light bulb.

Perhaps in 2030, the European Union will require all wall sockets to be USB 7.0 compatible. As you plug in your vacuum it will not only receive 2000 W of power but will be able to share contents of the dust compartment with your friends via the Internet of Things. Lost an earring? Your friend's vacuum can now tweet you about it.

That's not actually all that crazy - I remember seeing a proposal for an electrical plug which had voltage and current negotiation - no power gets supplied until the handshake gets done. Makes the plug itself very safe (and you can have central transformers to provide 110v, 240v, 5v etc throughout your house).

Later you will also get things like 'Not for use in your region' as a part of handshake and a heap of materials, that cannot be powered on.

Me, cynical? Nooo....

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