An individual elevator button is, on average, pressed 3 or 4 times more often than is necessary. Those extra pushes, ineffectivel intended to speed the elevator along, result in unnaturally short elevator button lifespans, costing the lift industry an uncalculated sum of money.

A fortune is to be saved by the company that installed buttons that made pressing them more than made the lift go slower. Elevator Button Preservation!

Small signs might be necessary at first, notifying passengers of the function of the new buttons. But once other elevator companies saw the savings, they too would change their buttons, and people would see the environmental and health benefits of EBP, a pan-cultural shift would occur and our grandchildren would never be tempted to press an elevator button more than once in a feat of social engineering not seen since JFK killed the hat for men.
-- grip, Jun 19 2003

toggle buttons http://www.halfbake..._20toggle_20buttons
toggle buttons would have this spin off too [neilp, Oct 17 2004]

My company long ago disconnected the close button (else it broke). People know this but still frantically press the button. I suppose it gives them something to do.

One brand of lifts I have seen in at least two countries treats subsequent button presses as a 'cancel'. This is invaluable when a kid has pressed all the buttons from the 20th to the 52nd floors.
-- FloridaManatee, Jun 19 2003


Won't anyone save those poor buttons?!? (collapses,sobs)
-- Cedar Park, Jun 19 2003


Put a piezo element into the button to charge a capcitor. Every second person to push gets shocked. There may be a discharge resistor. If you wait long enough you don't get shocked, put please make that very long, the squealing from the people who use the elevator after me will be so much fun.
-- kbecker, Jun 19 2003



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