Part One: I've heard people say that the "close doors" buttons in elevators don't work. They certainly don't seem to do anything in my building. Do they not work because of poor design or are they literally (purposefully) not hooked up to anything?

Part Two: Are there other examples of mechanical (or software) placebos? I've heard that the "progress bar" you see when Windows boots doesn't actually mean anything. Microsoft just discovered that people were happier if there was some sort of animation going on while their computer was starting up.
posted by grumblebee on Oct 14, 2004 - 44 answers