And (as a european) i'm reminded of the confusing american light switches which show a light when they are off. Oh, and they toggle in the wrong direction (up is on?).
By comparison, it's quite common here to have a switch with a lamp to indicate the light is on, which get used when the status of the light cannot be easily seen where the switch is located (e.g a switch for a light in the loft/outside light etc).
I'd say in a residential setting our switches make a lot of sense.
The light up variety are mostly to aid turning on the lights in the dark and aren't usually the default. It's nice being able to see the switch when entering a dark room.In a residential setting it's a bit more rare to have a switch control a light you're not either immediately seeing or are often imminently going to see, like a closet or looking out a window next to the switch. It's not like you're often turning on and off lights across the house, so having it light up when the room lights up is rather redundant instead of offering that dark time help. Finally, having an on light would be really redundant since you can usually easily see the switch is physically pointing up or down and they sometimes even say ON or OFF.
As for up being on and down being off, it's about being easier to toggle to the safer state. It's more likely for off to be a safer state (think changing a bulb, having it connected to a garbage disposal, etc.). It's generally easier to flip the switch down than flipping it up, so it's easier to toggle to the safe state rather than the unsafe.
> And (as a european) i'm reminded of the confusing american light switches which show a light when they are off.
I have those in Europe. The point is that you can find the light switch in the dark. Why would it need a light when it's on, if it's in the room that it lights?
This reminds me of when i was studying electronics and we had to design a circuit with some purpose. I made a “Light indicator” with an LED a photoresistor and some other stuff.
By comparison, it's quite common here to have a switch with a lamp to indicate the light is on, which get used when the status of the light cannot be easily seen where the switch is located (e.g a switch for a light in the loft/outside light etc).