Decisions about voltage (and frequency) were made in the early part of the 20th century (100 years ago). Those decisions were based on the many factors discussed here - the fact that different countries arrived at different conclusions indicates only that they weighted those factors differently. Frankly, it is futile to try to argue the differences between them at this point - in each country, it is what it is.
More to the point, however, is that different countries chose to establish different standards for the configuration of electrical receptacles and plugs. Again, they had reasons for the choices they made. But those choices were made upwards of 100 years ago, and it would be very difficult to force a change today. And again, its futile to argue that any one of these standards is better than any other.
The key consideration is that there are more far options for receptacle configuration than there are for voltage (and frequency), and in particular, the range of options for 220v applications is fairly extensive.
This is the heart of the problem in this instance: the SIMRAN power converter shown earlier has three '110V outlets for 2 or 3 pin USA plugs' and 'universal outlets at 220 v to accept plugs from most countries'. This description is misleading.
First, the 110v outlets appear to be similar to NEMA-1-15 receptacles except that they appear be able to accept round pins in addition to flat blades. I suspect that these are actually the BS 4573 (UK shaver) receptacle that are designed for 110-120v. electric shavers and toothbrushes.
Second, the 'universal outlet' does not conform to the standards that apply in any country, but does allow standard plugs from any country to be plugged into it. The use of a 'universal outlet' means that the power converter can be used with 220 or 230v appliances from any country - that's a good thing since there are multiple standard 220-230v plugs. But the bad thing is that there is an expectation that the user will understand the difference between 110-120v appliances, and 220-230v appliances, and will choose the correct receptacle.
So the core problem here is that the power converter was manufactured in China for universal application anywhere in the world, and was designed on the assumption that the end user would know what he was doing. Which means that the cause of this problem was operator error, and not some kind of egregious design flaw.