alt Hacker News> Not going to happen. For the same reason that the US never converted to a higher domestic voltage even though there are many practical advantages.
It would be relatively easy for the US to go to 240V: swap out single-pole breakers for double-pole, and change your NEMA 5 plugs for NEMA 6.
For a transition period you could easily have 240V and 120V plugs right next to each other (because of split phase you can 'splice in' 120V easily: just run cable like you would for a NEMA 14 plug: L1/L2/N/G).
What would be the real challenge would be going from 50 to 60Hz.
> What would be the real challenge would be going from 50 to 60Hz.
Other way around, no? The US is already 60Hz.
Edit: I mostly remember this because the SNES games I used to buy in the US and brought back to Europe ran noticeably slower.