Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by 13of40 2841 days ago
"shabbos elevators"

There was one of those at a hotel I stayed at by the Dead Sea, but in general their elevator situation was different than the ones I've seen in the US and Europe: I encountered multiple elevators in Israel where you selected a floor at a central panel outside the elevator, then the elevator itself would arrive and take you to the floor, rather than having the buttons on the inside. I wasn't able to figure out (nor can I find online) whether that design was related to not doing something on the sabbath.
2 comments
tomjakubowski 2840 days ago
This is called "destination dispatch" and, far as I know, has nothing to do with Judaism. The elevators in the buildings for IBM Watson in NYC and Munich both use destination dispatch. I should also note that it doesn't have anything to do with Watson either, they just came to mind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destination_dispatch

link
isostatic 2840 days ago
I've seen these elevators in uk, Brazil, US and I think Hong Kong (or maybe singapore)

Never in Israel though.

It's apparently more efficient.

link