Phone jack history

[fredrik]

So are we going to assume they’re reading this forum?

8-Step Arduino Sequencer

(Wikipedia says “In the UK, the terms jack plug and jack socket are commonly used for the respective male and female phone connectors. In the US, a stationary (more fixed) electrical connector is called a jack .” and mentions that “jack” comes from a 1880’s patent. I just looked at that, and it’s for a “cut-out or spring-jack switch” mechanism where the signal is automatically grounded when nothing’s plugged in. So “jack” refers to the switch mechanism, not the plug, and you’re all wrong …

(the patent I mention there is his first “spring-jack switch” patent from 1884, also linked to from that article)