The Lives of Elevators (2008)

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/04/21/up-and-then-down

by pepys • 12 years ago

50 15 12 years ago

teddyh• 12 years ago

In most elevators, at least in any built or installed since the early nineties, the door-close button doesn’t work.

This sounds likely, but also sounds too cute to be true, i.e. a perfect candidate for an urban legend.

It’s of course possible that this is the result of the manufacturers having to serve some markets where a functioning door-close button is needed/wanted, and simply disable the button where customers do not want or need the functionality - i.e. a similar reason as the reason there are braille dots on the drive-through ATM.

hudibras2• 12 years ago

In all seriousness, that's one of my favorite things about Japan: those buttons always work.

And the braille on the drive-through ATMs is for blind people in taxis.

sophacles• 12 years ago

I always thought the braille on drive-through ATMs was for scales of economy - it's easier and cheaper to have N molds than to have 2N molds (in this case N molds for "everything has the braille and 2N for the case where there is and is not braille).

stilldavid• 12 years ago

The door close buttons are for when the elevator is in fire service mode. In that mode, the lift only does what the operator (a fireman) tells it to do, for good reason. If they take the lift to the fourth floor, say where a fire is, the doors will only open when the "door open" button is held. Same for the opposite with the "door close" button.

amalcon• 12 years ago

The close-door button definitely does work in some installations. At a minimum, the button works in most hospitals. They tend to have very long open-door periods (to give people extra time), but also frequently need to get someone to another floor as quickly as possible.

The door close button is a perfect solution to this problem.

mrfusion• 12 years ago

When the close door button is just the two triangles, my brain can never parse which is close and which is open. Does that happen to anyone else?

Example: <> ><

I feel like the arrows pointing away looks more like a door coming together.

ams6110• 12 years ago

Yes! Exactly the same. I am always hitting the "close" button when I'm wanting the open. And contrary to legend, in at least some elevators the close button definitely initates a door close immediately.

This has happened so often that when I want to hold the elevator for someone I actually hold the door with my hand or foot rather than try to figure out which button to push.

a_c_s• 12 years ago

In fire service mode door operations are manually controlled. So they do have a purpose, even if most users never experience it.

Source: http://elevation.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_service_mode_(EFS)

hudibras2• 12 years ago

Here's the link to the video mentioned in the article.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_bMhNI_TY8

Warning: Watching the section between 1:20 and 1:45 will cause your blood pressure to rise to unhealthy levels.

michael_h• 12 years ago

"Let's see...29, 31, 32. Seems like we're missing something here, but I can't put my finger on it...hey, you see the Braves give the Mets a pounding? What a bunch of lazy bums. Well, see you tomorrow!"

alexggordon• 12 years ago

This reminds me of an excellent talk on elevator hacking [0] given by Deviant Ollam and Howard Payne at [HOPE X] a little while ago.

It changed my entire view of elevators and if you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend you watch. it

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOzrJjdZDRQ

kator• 12 years ago

Long video but it was worth the watch thanks for sharing! I'd suggest others watch if they think they know anything about elevators...

nate• 12 years ago

Still, he now sees that it wasn’t so much the elevator that changed him as his reaction to it.

It's crazy how our interpretation of the events around us is even more potent than the event itself. Some people could have gone through this and it would have been a funny anecdote at office holiday parties, for others, complete life upheaval. (Not to diminish how terrible this must have been for Nick.)

But I'm reminded of this constantly now with a 5 month old baby. I'm exhausted. So much sleep deprivation. And the things that happen around me take a much different "color". I have to constantly keep asking: is this event occuring like I think it is, or is it simply my exhausted interpretation of it. And more often than not, it's the interpretation. When I finally get a nap in, things go back to looking just great.

gambiting• 12 years ago

>The Bronx family-court system, for example, was in a shambles last year because the elevators at its courthouse kept breaking down. ((The stairs are closed, owing to security concerns.)

Anyone has any idea why the stairs would be closed, and what are those "security concerns"?

ShonM• 12 years ago

It could be that floor access is governed by key cards. The elevator having a key card reader, but the doors in the stairwell not, maybe because they hadn't yet been retrofitted.

The Lives of Elevators (2008)

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