Just discovered idiot-proof terminology is a thing  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 09:42:09 am
content: I was examining a pinout in a datasheet of a industrial PC104 board when I saw "header: 0.1" pitch, 2x5 pin idiot-proof".Then searched further and found this term is very common!I just found it hilarious. Not "keyed", or "polaryzed", but "idiot -proof"Just an example:https://eu.mouser.com/ProductDetail/IEI/19800-000200-100-RS?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvlX3nhDDO4AF41nEMLCUHnrOXiCTO%252BSc0%3D

author: Ranayna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 10:03:55 am
content: Those are certainly not idiot proofAt least not on their own. While the picture is not clear enough to show it, i would assume that besides the notch, they also plugged one pinhole of the connector.That plugged hole might be what "idiot proof" refers to, that is certainly not always done.While they can't be simply reversed even without a shroud on the male connector, on a non-shrouded connector they still can be misaligned in at least one direction, unless there are two plugged holes offset to each other. Which is unlikely for a 9-pin serial connector.So while these are an improvement, they are far from being really idiot proof.A true idiot will also not be deterred by an unusually high insertion force. I have seen USB headers with broken pins.

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 10:06:25 am
content: Yeah the connector I was checking out missed one pin, and the cable had one hole plugged, so unless being completely retarded, certainly you wouldn't connect it backwards.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 10:23:24 am
content: It's a well known term, but as a slang.Also, it's impossible to make something idiot-proof, that's a fact of life.Searched the word "idiot" in the "IEEE standard dictionary of electrical and electronics terms", and there is an entry for "IDIOT" but it's about something else.Quote

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 10:41:22 am
content: Quote from: RoGeorge on January 15, 2024, 10:23:24 amA common version here goes ...because idiots are so ingenious.I wonder whether that is an attempt to avoid terms such as "gendered" to avoid offending the perpetually offended. In an American tort case, calling something "idiot proof" might defeat an argument by defense that the user was negligent.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 12:57:31 pm
content: Quote from: RoGeorge on January 15, 2024, 10:23:24 amQuoted for truth. Every time that make better idiot-proof devices, they also built better idiots! That's another fact of life.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 01:04:38 pm
content: Also seepokayoke, "mistake avoidance", which originally was supposed to bebakayoke, or "idiot avoidance".

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 02:38:40 pm
content: Quote from: Stray Electron on January 15, 2024, 12:57:31 pmA corollary:Nothing is idiot-proof. You just need a more persistent and dedicated idiot.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 03:06:07 pm
content: "idiot proof" is non-existantFunny story: A customer ordered 2 HDD enclosures, shipped all the way to northern Finland from Germany. 2 weeks later, I received an angry email from that customer, complaining about the enclosures being complete cr#p and he felt insulted. He even had to drive a couple of hours by car to the nearest workshop to have the enclosures modified and make them fit.Turned out, he didn't read the instructions about mounting the HDD upside down and use the mounting holes in the aluminium frame. Instead he had new mounting holes drilled to mount them in the wrong orientation.He never returned the email when I told him about "not reading the manual".

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 04:39:31 pm
content: I'm not discussing the effectiveness of such methods or the perseverance of certain fuckwits!It's just that if you search (With the quotes) "idiot-proof" you'll find plenty of parts in common distributors like Digikey, Mouser, etc.The part manufacturer literally wrote "idiot-proof" in the device description, which I would never imagine given the world full of snowflakes we live in.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 05:09:12 pm
content: learning new terms thks loll

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2024, 05:14:16 pm
content: Quote from: Haenk on January 15, 2024, 03:06:07 pmA properly idiot proof enclosure would have enough holes to mount the disk in any orientation, before the idiot resorts to drilling.At least he had enough clue to drill new holes in the enclosure and not in the disk...

author: perdrix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2024, 11:54:33 am
content: Long ago when I was working at IBM Greenford in the UK, we had a very non-PC way of putting this:QuoteDavid

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 16, 2024, 11:56:43 am
content: Anyone who puts "idiot proof" on a product, very likely severely underestimates the ingenuity of a true idiot. On top of that, it's not very wise to tempt them.