it's even a trope in tv shows and movies, that the main characters desperately need the doors to close, but no matter how they smash the button, the doors won't close.
Last week at SEMA I was reminded of the stupid door button. Yup, tested it every day when using the elevator, and the doors close with the same time delay no matter if you wait for them, or hit the door close button.
So... why does Otis build their elevator with those stupid buttons?
Joe sent me a link to the transcript of a podcast that was discussing this, Patrick Carr is the manager/creator of an elevator museum in New York City:
Not sure. Used to work maintenance, we would always hit the floor button and the close and hold it to express up or down. Not all are programmed that way.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite radio shows discussed this recently.
ReplyDeletehttps://radiolab.org/podcast/buttons-not-buttons/transcript
TLDR: The upshot is that the 'Door Close' buttons are just window dressing so that people can feel better having something to press. In reality the elevator is preprogrammed with door open/close intervals that move the most people in the fewest trips.
ah HA! I figured that was the case... just a button to smash to occupy the frustrated
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