They're connected to bare metal enclosures and similar exposed metalwork anyway, so what does it matter? It used to be the norm in the U.K. to leave the earths bare as well.Unsheathed cpcs.
As I said in the thread in the international area, I think they're fine, so long as they're selected and installed properly. They've been in use for over a half a century, so if there were any real problems don't you think they would have been abandoned long before now? The only issues I see with them are where somebody has tried to get by with one which is the wrong size or has otherwise installed one badly (not tightened down properly, tried to re-use bent and twisted conductors etc.). Surely the same could be said for any type of connection, including all the common British ones?Wirenuts.
All in the eye of the beholder I suppose, but I rather like the traditional toggles, and there are some slightly different shaped types from the various manufacturers. I certainly wouldn't regard them as ugly. Or are you referring to the Decora-style rockers?Those fugly light switches.
Only likely to be an issue if you're removing or fitting a switch live. I must admit that what I don't like is where people are in so much of a hurry that they leave unused terminal screws backed out instead of taking a few seconds to tighten them down out of the way. But that's a "people" problem again.Switches designed in a way that leads people to recommend wrapping the internal part in tape lest a terminal make contact with the back box..
To be fair, I'm not crazy about the flimsy plastic boxes used so widely now (see the blue box in that last clip). The older plastic boxes (e.g. 1970's types) were much thicker and sturdier, some being almost a Bakelite style; the current ones are such flimsy plastic that it doesn't take much to twist them out of shape. But then I never liked the dry-lining boxes in the U.K. either, which are certianly no better and possibly worse.
