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June 16, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Elevator panel

EpanelMarten Veldthuis submits a picture taken in France:

This elevator control panel is quite confusing.

1. There are only 4 floors in the building, so why have buttons for 5+ floors? Also, what does a '-' button do without a basement nearby?

2. What on earth does a '.' button do? Is that for people on the 2.3rd floor?

Comments:

Maybe its a combination elevator and microwave oven.

Posted by: artclam at June 16, 2006 12:09 AM

It's one of them newfangled elevator/phone booths.

Posted by: KarmaBaby at June 16, 2006 12:17 AM

Yes! At first I thought it was a microwave or a TV remote coontrol. Looks like some industrial designers just got lazy and walked over to the home appliances division. Let's hope they don't do the same with their nuclear power plants... "Popcorn? I didn't know the core had a popcorn button...Let's make some."

Posted by: Alex at June 16, 2006 12:26 AM

This reminds me of when I was a little kid, and I went to Staples. Hanging behind a shelf, I saw what looked like a telephone (it had all the buttons, including the * and # keys) so I picket it up. I tried phoning home. The alarm went off.

It wasn't a phone at all, it was a security device for the demonstration product, and I had entered the wrong "deactivation code".

Posted by: Gabriel at June 16, 2006 12:37 AM

I see General Electric's Systems Controllers division managed to unload all those extra microwave control panels lying around the shop.

Posted by: Nonspecific Voltaics at June 16, 2006 12:40 AM

Where's the "Up and Out" button?

Posted by: gmangw at June 16, 2006 12:43 AM

Ok, that is a calculator remote control. So, if you want the 4th floor, you can type in 8.5 - 4.5

Posted by: Mona Dearly at June 16, 2006 01:01 AM

RTFM

Thats all I got to say.

Posted by: Mahagesh Patel at June 16, 2006 01:04 AM

Perhaps the '.' and '-' are for morse code.

For when you get stuck.

On floor 2.3.

Posted by: Lionfire at June 16, 2006 01:49 AM

this has got to be the best broken submission ever

Posted by: yingjai at June 16, 2006 02:57 AM

It would appear that the elevator manufacturer tried to standardize the control panel for all of its elevators. No matter how many floors the building may have, they could use the same panel. Unfortunately, the accepted convention for operating an elevator is to press one button corresponding to the desired floor. It is a good idea, just poorly executed.

Posted by: eBob at June 16, 2006 08:48 AM

Re: Mahagesh "RTFM"

Is there a "manual" in the elevator?

Posted by: Michelle at June 16, 2006 09:57 AM

It's clearly a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Happy Vertical People Transporter, equipped with "defocused temporal perception, a curious system which enables the elevator to be on the right floor to pick you up even before you knew you wanted it, thus eliminating all the tedious chatting, relaxing, and making friends that people were previoiusly forced to do whilst waiting for elevators."

Douglas Adams, we miss you.

Posted by: Steve at June 16, 2006 10:04 AM

Maybe you use it to enter an access code if a floor is restricted.

Everyone knows passwords are more secure if you put in some punct.ua-tion...

Posted by: JM at June 16, 2006 10:22 AM

Yes, this is the panel from Ronco's "Jiffy-Vator"--a much less expensive alternate to those fancy Otis luxury elevators. Other cost-savings items include: Twin-bungee cable system, De-luxe corrugated cardboard wall panels, super-efficient 1.5volt motor system (with AA battery backup!), and helpful emergency signage (including "use your cell phone in case of emergency").

The UL lists a nearly 85% survival rate with the Jiffy-Vator!

Posted by: spooly at June 16, 2006 10:37 AM

Share and Enjoy:

"Modern elevators are strange and complex entities. The ancient electric winch and "maximumcapacity-

eight-persons" jobs bear as much relation to a Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Happy Vertical

People Transporter as a packet of mixed nuts does to the entire west wing of the Sirian State Mental

Hospital."

Posted by: VNet at June 16, 2006 10:51 AM

> Re: Mahagesh "RTFM"

> Is there a "manual" in the elevator?

I would think that needing to "RTFM" for an Elevator is a rather clear definition of "Broken"!

Posted by: Mike at June 16, 2006 10:54 AM

Are those even buttons? I hate those touch sensitive flat panel things.

Posted by: WillF at June 16, 2006 12:22 PM

I agree with Mona Dearly. It looks like a calculator pad. I just wasn't up early enough today to post an original thought on that one. Broken, yet workable(kind of).

Posted by: lefty-chef at June 16, 2006 12:26 PM

I wonder if it'll take me to platform 9.75?

Posted by: Kyle at June 16, 2006 01:28 PM

It's the new elevator for the Mertin Flemmer building.

Vorn

Posted by: Vorn at June 16, 2006 01:57 PM

Nice one, gmangw. My daughter will like that when I tell her. Roald rules.

Posted by: Pat at June 16, 2006 02:16 PM

I can't believe I am looking at the same blog as people who had Staples when they were a kid. When I was a kid we barely even had staples.

Posted by: Old Man at June 16, 2006 02:17 PM

If this elevator is in France then floors are numbered: G, 1, 2, 3. How would you get to the ground floor?

Posted by: Dennis at June 16, 2006 03:04 PM

BTW: The 4 on the display probably means that the elevator is going to stop at the roof.

Posted by: Dennis at June 16, 2006 03:05 PM

I've been in hotels in the US where elevators are labeled L3 L2, L, G, M, C, 4, 5, 6. Try to figure that out. Is L the lobby or lower. Is M Main or mezzanine? Of course C is conference or confused. I guess you could start at 4 and figure go down 3 buttons for the first floor.

Posted by: Dennis at June 16, 2006 03:12 PM

Maybe the minus button means to delete a digit if you make a mistake. Wait, no, elevators should not be that hard. I'm terrified of them enough as it is without having to deal with an entire control panel.

Posted by: Quince at June 16, 2006 03:13 PM

I think they tried to save money by taking the panel off a fancy phone, but it went horribly wrong as they added unnecissary buttons....

My pocket change...and a bit of lint,

Maxaxle

Posted by: Another guy named Alex B at June 16, 2006 03:19 PM

Hey old man, Try Office Depot if you don't like Staples.

Posted by: And yet another different guy named Alex at June 16, 2006 04:55 PM

Manual? You want a Manual? Well here you go:

http://www.eltecelevator.com/tips.html

Would you believe these people have their own magazine?: http://www.elevator-world.com/

I read a little of the current issue. It had its ups and downs. (Well, somebody had to make that joke)

The part that gives away the reason for the complication is that it is 'from France'. It was obviously installed by Beldar and Primat. "We must create a control unit for the primitive lift device to enable the blunt-skulled humans to traverse the levels of the habitation module".

Posted by: Ella Vader at June 16, 2006 05:22 PM

Now, let me tell you the *real* reason this is broken....

Every elevator I have seen recently (discounting really old installations) has had a braille label next to the one button that you push to go to any given floor, clearly identifying for the vision-impaired, where the button is and to what floor it goes, just as clearly as it does for the sighted.

No braille. Strike one.

Unintuitive interface requiring the use of a visual feedback from a 7-segment display. Strike two.

Membrane buttons. Strike three.

This elevator is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

BTW, no, I am not blind, but at least two of my friends are.

Posted by: Glenn Lasher at June 16, 2006 07:33 PM

Well at least you can say that elevator will never let you down...

Posted by: Otis Media at June 16, 2006 08:18 PM

>If this elevator is in France then floors are

>numbered: G, 1, 2, 3. How would you get to the

>ground floor?

I would press 'G'. For 'Ground'. America is the only country in the world where the ground floor is also the first floor; everywhere else, the first floor is the floor above the ground floor. (Incidentally, France would be completely within their rights to name it 'RC' instead of 'G' (for 'rez-de-chaussée'), there's no reason why they should use the English abbreviation; but since they do, you should be applauding them for going out of their way to make it more understandable to the international community (who are more used to 'G') rather than criticising them for not pandering to American ideosyncracies in floor naming)).

Posted by: Simon at June 16, 2006 08:44 PM

BE CAREFUL! If you press 624-.>

you do NOT want to be responsible for that!

of course it wouldn't be the company's fault...

Posted by: McMatt at June 16, 2006 11:38 PM

Simon, that's an interesting snipet, though I haven't seen an elevator with a "1" on it in a very long time. All of them around here start with "L" for lobby, or "G" for ground (and ALL have a star next to them to designate that they are the ground floor), but then, of course, the next button is "2".

Posted by: WiglyWorm at June 17, 2006 04:17 AM

It's for very little people that can live on floor 2.3.

Posted by: Danny at June 17, 2006 08:53 AM

Yeah, Looked like a microwave to me.

Posted by: Cameron at June 17, 2006 02:32 PM

"Now, let me tell you the *real* reason this is broken....

Every elevator I have seen recently (discounting really old installations) has had a braille label next to the one button that you push to go to any given floor, clearly identifying for the vision-impaired, where the button is and to what floor it goes, just as clearly as it does for the sighted.

No braille. Strike one.

Unintuitive interface requiring the use of a visual feedback from a 7-segment display. Strike two.

Membrane buttons. Strike three.

This elevator is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

BTW, no, I am not blind, but at least two of my friends are.

"

You know since this is a french elevator I doubt the Americans with Disabilities act applies.. although france probly has something similiar

I just want to go to the 0 floor

Posted by: infinity306 at June 17, 2006 05:10 PM

Okay, elevator controls aren't custom designed for whichever building it's in -- the red display at the top is the current floor, the green one above the keypad is the floor you've entered.

The - is for clearing your entry, and the • is 'enter' or accept or confirm (whatever makes sense to you.) I think it's designed for larger buildings who have 20+ floors, it really simplifies the control panel instead of having a few dozen rows of numbers.

For a system like this, i'm not surprised if a voice announces what number you pressed or where you're at.

I'm sure it's programmed so it won't take you to the zeroth or fifth floor.

Posted by: Trent Chernecki at June 18, 2006 02:18 AM

4 8 15 16 23 42

Ok...where's the damn 'EXECUTE' button?

Posted by: Hoki at June 18, 2006 12:24 PM

I live in Bulgaria(country in Europe),and here there is no ground floor.In almost every place I have been to here the elevator starts at floor 1. And thats it.Kinda weird.

Posted by: Danny at June 18, 2006 01:43 PM

I live in Spain, and I do live in a building equipped with this fancy-panelled type of elevator.Can tell you it looks very weird in a 3 floored building ... you never get used to that! I live in the 1st floor anf almost 90% of the time prefer get upstairs by foot... you never know what can really happen if you mess with the buttons :S

Now seriously,it's supposed to be a telephone panel

to call the 24h assistance phone displayed somewhere...in the elevator's ceiling!!Very hard to locate when really needed (In fact a 70 year old man got trapped and nothing indicated him he could call for help from there..started shouting for help).

Good if this service works, but may be better having a "Ring" button with a telephone picture on in?Add the telephon number somewhere nearby in case that button got broken and you got it.

Posted by: Roger at June 19, 2006 11:02 AM

Simon, did you look at the picture? there is no button marked "G".

In answer to Glen, I think either they didn't use french numbering convetions or it would be "0".

In Québec (Canada) I have seen just about every possible system: RC, M, 2, 3; G, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3; RC, 2, 3; ect... There doesn't seem to be a universally accepted standard. The most common, however, is RC, M, 2, 3 or RC, 1, 2, 3.

Posted by: Sean at June 19, 2006 12:06 PM

I´m studying abroad in Spain and have seen this elevator. The ground floor is zero and what we consider the 2nd floor is 1. The (-) is for basement floors, -1 is the basement. I agree with the people suggesting it´s a standardizied display, interchangable parts and all. Still looks a little odd but maybe not broken, although I haven´t tried asking for a floor not in the building yet.

Posted by: Kimberly at June 19, 2006 12:27 PM

Maybe the . is to cancel the number you typed in case you don't want to go to a particular floor and you accidentaly pressed it. The other number are for if they add more floors to the building later, and the - is for going to basement and other floors below ground floor

Posted by: aaaaa at June 20, 2006 05:16 PM

Glenn: Fortunately for the elevator company and hotel, France doesn't have an Americans with Disabilities Act.

Posted by: Sigivald at June 21, 2006 06:19 PM

LAST!!!

Posted by: LAST at June 22, 2006 01:05 AM

I wonder what happens if you enter "-0"

Posted by: realsaddam at June 22, 2006 11:39 AM

It could be an elevator password control panel. If a floor is restricted, you would enter the password, then the elevator would travel up or down. Of course for robbers, this won't deter them, they would climb right up the emergency hatch.

Posted by: Josh at June 22, 2006 09:28 PM

Glenn, i'm going to go out on a limb and guess that your an American. Now i'm not suggesting that your stupid, though you might imply that from my name. All i'm saying is that it helps to read the post before commenting and that if the French had to follow the American's with Disablilities Act, international law would be in a world of hurt. Not that i really assumed an American would consider the international implications of anything.

Posted by: ANotSoStupidAmerican at June 23, 2006 11:05 AM

it's willy wonka's wonkavator. if you hit any number higher than 4 it goes through the roof

we are headed to floor 2x-3(3.4x-2/3x)=3x-6

Posted by: TAE at July 6, 2006 03:31 PM

hmmmm.... i wonder if it will crash if you ask it to take you to floor -46 or something to that effect....

Posted by: Jacob at July 20, 2006 03:05 PM

or floor 3.3333333333333

Posted by: %%^%(^& at July 22, 2006 09:51 PM

I wonder if they did decided

to make this as a combination floor selector/security code panel in order to get access to a restricted floor/area that this elevator goes to. Still, this is a bad design, and the elevators I did see that have this feature have the security kepad seperate.

Posted by: blinking blythe at October 25, 2006 06:50 PM

"Manual? You want a Manual? Well here you go:

http://www.eltecelevator.com/tips.html

Would you believe these people have their own magazine?: http://www.elevator-world.com/

I read a little of the current issue. It had its ups and downs. (Well, somebody had to make that joke)

The part that gives away the reason for the complication is that it is 'from France'. It was obviously installed by Beldar and Primat. "We must create a control unit for the primitive lift device to enable the blunt-skulled humans to traverse the levels of the habitation module"."

- I love the fact that on that site, it explains what an elevator is, but the best part is when they say "How to care about an elevator" kudos!

Posted by: EMDF at December 14, 2006 07:54 PM

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