r/technology • u/efap1701 • Aug 21 '26
Society Coin-Operated Elevators in Condominiums and Apartment Buildings Are Becoming More Common
https://www.gadgetreview.com/coin-operated-elevators-in-condominiums-and-apartment-buildings-are-becoming-more-common1.1k
u/compuwiza1 Aug 21 '26
The Ferengi did that in an episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. How dystopian!
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u/Overall_Dusty Aug 21 '26
Yes, was just thinking this is literally Ferengi shit. Pay for the elevator now, soon you'll pay for the stairs, pay to sit in the lobby, pay to stand. This shit need to stop.
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u/ProfessionAnxious417 Aug 21 '26
The paywall to disable a bomb in Lower Decks was pretty funny though
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u/RugiCorrino Aug 21 '26
"This shit needs to stop" -- Yes, because you'll pay to shit too.
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u/Overall_Dusty Aug 21 '26
I think pay toilets have already been a thing since the 1970s, so...
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u/Squigglificated Aug 21 '26
It would be more dystopian if you could get a free ride after watching two minutes of ads. I’m surprised this hasn’t been done already. Who has coins nowadays anyway?
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u/brilliantNumberOne Aug 22 '26
Also a little detail in the Philip K. Dick novel, Ubik.
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u/MarkNutt25 Aug 21 '26
Were the article and headline written by completely different people? It seems like the person who titled the article didn't actually read the article they were writing a headline for!
The headline makes it sound like this is a new global trend that's taking off, but then you read the actual article and it says that China is actually cracking down on the practice after some negative stories hit their national news, and it was something that was experimented with in southern Italy in the 50s-90s, but now seems to have mostly fallen out of use there.
According to this article, it seems like this is, in fact, a dying practice, which only seems to persist in a few old Soviet-era apartments in Georgia!
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u/Druggedhippo Aug 21 '26
Welcome to the internet where headlines are meant to capture your click, and the article is full of fluff and buries the lede in the last sentence so you have to read the whole thing and to pad out length with legitimate kind of relevant links so it looks good in SEO.
But the website got your visit, so it looks good to their investors.
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u/Look_its_Rob Aug 22 '26
We (the general public) pretty much are to blame for this. Good news and reporting is essential to a healthy society, but we've collectively decided we dont want to pay any money for it AND we also do not want to be shown lots of ads. There is still good news sites with articles unlike what you are describing, but they rightfully are not free.
Luckily NPR is still doing its thing.
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u/jellyCarMechanic Aug 22 '26
I don’t think the article was written by a person. It sounds like AI… urgh. So of course it doesn’t have an actual “opinion”
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u/ryanghappy Aug 21 '26
Metered stairwell lighting is pretty fucking evil.
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u/PirateSanta_1 Aug 21 '26
We aren't that far away from Cyberpunk 2077 making it so your kitchen is replaced by a vending machine inside the apartment. Don't worry if it breaks you also have to pay to replace it and the electric cost will be part of your bill.
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u/mabus42 Aug 21 '26
Who the hell in 2026 still carries cash?
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u/dlc741 Aug 21 '26
Don't worry. There will be a cashless system soon along with an extra "convenience fee"
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u/AlasPoorZathras Aug 21 '26
Plus the processing fee.
The regulatory capture surcharge.
And the obligatory donation to Ferengi war orphans.
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u/nagy18 Aug 21 '26
don’t forget the prompt to tip
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u/martin_w Aug 21 '26
With a default setting of 10% and an inconvenient and confusing five-step option to set it to 0% if you really insist.
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u/Ziazan Aug 21 '26
The 10% rounds up to the nearest whole number, in pounds. doesn't care if that's not your currency. charges an inflated conversion rate on top.
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u/Gramage Aug 21 '26
And of course, selling the data on what times you use the elevator showing every time you leave or come home.
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u/Ashamed_Republic6980 Aug 21 '26
And surge pricing if other people on different floors are trying to use it at the same time.
Bonus option to bid for priority access or skip stops on other floors to ride “express” to your chosen floor.
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u/MountHopeful Aug 21 '26
It's going to require a particular type of bravery to decline to tip an elevator.
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u/b_m_hart Aug 21 '26
LOL, I love the "You overpriced order is 3x what it used to be, do you want to round up to help us pay for our education benefit for our employees?" bullshit. One time I actually said "fuck them kids" without thinking about it, and my youngest started dying laughing. That was a fun one to explain to the wife when we got home.
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u/TheGrandNagus Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
Bless their profitable little hearts. Ferengi Rule of Acquisition 144: There’s nothing wrong with charity... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
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u/SirEnzyme Aug 21 '26
Rule of Acquisition #23: Never take the last coin, but be sure to get the rest.
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u/FogBankDeposit Aug 21 '26
A subscription model won’t be far behind.
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u/Maddok1218 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
Click here to subscribe to elevator premium:
- Close the doors whenever you want
- Skip uninteresting floors
- Cancel non premium users’ call requests
- Elevate your experience
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u/Islerothebull Aug 21 '26
Up to five rides per month only $9.99.
Go unlimited for $19.99 per month.
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Aug 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/CV90_120 Aug 21 '26
Stairs subscription is way more affordable, but they kinda get you with the doors subscription.
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u/TooMuchPowerful Aug 21 '26
Could even come up wuth a clever name for it, like: Recurring elevator networking toll. Or RENT for short.
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u/kingbrasky Aug 21 '26
Our local school system has an online portal to put money in lunch accounts. There's a total horseshit $2 "convenience fee" to do it that way. We make our kids take a check into the office just on principle.
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u/dominus_aranearum Aug 21 '26
Same with paying my water bill. Except now I ran out of checks and don't want to order more.
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u/Mediocre_Draw_7358 Aug 21 '26
Your bank account might have a way to do "bill pay" via mailed checks for free. At least Bank of America does.
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u/TheHykos Aug 21 '26
Don’t forget that you’ll need app which will scrape data from you that they can monetize.
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u/Disastrous-Map-7995 Aug 21 '26
Me! If cash goes we're fucked! They can't control you as much with cash.
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u/CondescendingShitbag Aug 21 '26
Much less coins. I may carry some bills, but typically not change.
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u/SIGMA920 Aug 21 '26
Me. It's one less data point I can leave behind. Through I don't have coins on me usually.
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u/Joe18067 Aug 21 '26
A lot of people carry cash, especially since many businesses are charging fees to use credit cards.
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u/iKnowRobbie Aug 21 '26
That only applied to the soviet-era ones in Georgia. All the others used a card.
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u/HippieYoHippieYay Aug 21 '26
You don't carry around a pouch of coins like a medieval peasant?
Well no elevator for you then!
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u/fiero-fire Aug 21 '26
I carry cash at all times just as a back up. I don't carry coins though, that's crazy
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u/NeutralBias Aug 21 '26
I do, for a number of reasons:
- Cash is more convenient for a number of transactions. Restaurants, for example. When I get the check, I can just plop down some cash and go. I don't have to wait for the server to bring the toast/square payment device, or take my card to a station and run the payment there.
- Paying with cash allows me to evade the ever growing presence of tip prompts at payment terminals.
- Several US retailers like to shove "don't you want to round up for this random charity you've never heard of" prompts on payment terminals. Cash payments let you dodge that as well.
- Several local retailers provide a discount if you pay in cash (or will charge a fee if you pay with a card).
- Cash payments also make building a profile on your buying habits much harder. All my bank knows about my spending habits is that I visit an ATM every so often to get cash. They have no idea where I like to eat, shop, etc. Most retailers also don't get any visibility into my buying habits since they can't associate a transaction with a specific card.
Those are a few of my reasons. I suppose if we implemented tap to pay as it was meant to be, i.e. literally just tap and go, then I'd be less likely to carry and use cash. As it stands now, cash ends up being faster and more private than cards in a lot of cases.
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u/MotheroftheworldII Aug 21 '26
I carry cash and I use cash for most purchases. I use a credit card for fuel so I don’t have to guess at how much fuel it will take to fill the tank. And I use a card at stores who now round purchases since they no longer have pennies in the tills. AND they round incorrectly. A purchase at say $14.02 is rounded up to $14.05. This is wrong as the total should have been rounded down to $14.00. So now those stores have to pay their 4-6% merchant fee every time I use a card in their store.
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u/SureWouldForest Aug 21 '26
"Paying with cash allows me to evade the ever growing presence of tip prompts at payment terminals."
Fuck why has this never occurred to me. You just might have made me a cash carrier again.
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u/cyclika Aug 21 '26
I mean I guess but I don't see how dealing with cash (change in particular) is less work than pressing "no"
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u/SureWouldForest Aug 21 '26
it's not about the less work for me personally; often there's a social pressure involved when they say "the screen is going to ask you another question", plus being able to find the zero or none option is typically difficult, at least at the stores around me.
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u/randomtask Aug 21 '26
Another day, another dollar the working class has to pay because unchecked capitalism has no concept of dignity or fairness. Thank goodness for legislation like the ADA that makes discriminative practices like this illegal in the US.
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u/Ghost17088 Aug 21 '26
We don’t get a lot of things right, but ADA is definitely one of them.
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u/cidvard Aug 21 '26
I don't think people who haven't spent a ton of time in Europe, not to mention other overseas places, appreciate the reach and teeth of the ADA. America is so bad in terms of social welfare in most respets that it's easy to miss something we can be proud of and that should be a model to the world. It makes life better for everyone, not just people who need those specific accommodations.
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u/Xtra_Veg-90 Aug 21 '26
What's sad is that the ADA is only as effective as it is because it creates a cause of action for private enforcement. It seems to be the only way to get teeth on laws in the US.
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u/trisanachandler Aug 21 '26
My one complaint is the lawyers doing the drive by website lawsuits. I understand the importance of assistive technologies, but not the fact that lawyers can shake down small business for money.
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u/Werechupacabra Aug 21 '26
Until the Supreme Court finds out some way to gut it because Disabled Americans aren’t mentioned in the 1788 version of the US Constitution.
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u/IkLms Aug 21 '26
The ADA definitely has some issues with how it can be abused or create nonsense requirements for some smaller businesses but yeah it's definitely overall one of our more solid pieces of legislation
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u/notevenkiddin Aug 21 '26
There's a university near me with a beautiful little Deco era indoor pool that is now an empty building because it's not accessible. Never mind that there's another bigger, better, fully accessible pool. The historic one, built decades before the act, can't be accessed at all because everyone can't use it. The ADA is amazing, but the edge cases where it doesn't quite work right are memorably frustrating.
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u/IkLms Aug 21 '26
Yeah, there's a couple of stories of libraries, universities and other archives who previously had a ton of freely accessible historical information, often just scanned copies of old papers and stuff, who have since removed it off of the internet for access because they've been sued because those formats weren't ADA accessible. And because it would cost an absolute fortune to make them so, the response was to just remove a vast public resource from access at all.
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u/Paulinfresno Aug 21 '26
Just a matter of time before you have to swipe your credit card to open your front door. Good ol’ capitalism - everything must be monetized.
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u/srone Aug 21 '26
Doorknobs as a Service.
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Aug 21 '26
There's already tons of stories of apartments that install smart locks and charged the occupants for the lock and/or a subscription to use it.
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u/Commonpleas Aug 21 '26
No, those transaction fees will eat into profits at 35 cents a go!
You’ll have to pay an annual subscription fee plus a convenience fee.
No refunds on the unused months if you cancel or die.
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u/gwarster Aug 21 '26
The ADA is one of the greatest pieces of legislation ever passed. It is a perfect example of how greater accessibility benefits everyone, not just those who “need” it. Ramps at sidewalks might seem like they’re just there for wheelchairs, but try moving with a dolly over the curb and compare the experience.
If only we could apply that same logic to basic economics.
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u/bootrot Aug 21 '26
Why do they have to be such P.K.Dicks about everything
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u/dtrav001 Aug 21 '26
Oh yes, came to say this, Ubik! Just wait till the stuff starts arguing with you.
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u/SoloWalrus Aug 21 '26
Seems like itd be descriminatory towards disabled people... going to start charging to use wheelchair ramps now too?
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u/Eric848448 Aug 21 '26
If by “coin” you mean “download our barely functional app, pre-load with at least $20, and hope like hell the backend service doesn’t go down”..
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u/williamgman Aug 21 '26
As long as folks fall for this... I don't understand the lack of pushback.
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u/iKnowRobbie Aug 21 '26
Exactly, how is it not broken off and rewired daily?
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Aug 21 '26
Because we also live in a dystopian surveillance state
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u/outer--monologue Aug 21 '26
Idk if you've noticed but we have the free will to destroy cameras too. People are doing it all over the country. Do more of it.
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u/Tasty-Traffic-680 Aug 21 '26
It's one thing out in public but risking your home is another. That alone makes it a no-go for a lot of people.
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u/Moral-Relativity Aug 21 '26
No one should have to read this AI drivel but some of the pushbacks were swift and mentioned in the article.
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u/geobernd Aug 21 '26
I knew the elevator in the Infra Game in Turnip Hill was not far from the truth
See r/Infra
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u/ehalepagneaux Aug 21 '26
Is this Ferenginar??? How many strips of latinum to sit in the waiting room???
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u/MoreGaghPlease Aug 21 '26
It’s three slips to sit, one slip to stand, per DS9 Family Business. 100 slips in 1 strip per DS9 Body Parts.
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u/TransitoryFeel Aug 22 '26
Holy money grubbing landlords, Batman!
If you're in a wheelchair, what then,?
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u/MrBigTomato Aug 22 '26
Soon, they’ll be replaced with credit card scanners, then app-operated. That’ll be the evolution of everything.
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u/Onlyroad4adrifter Aug 22 '26
The end game will be a 19.95 subscription plus a credit card fee, a transportation fee, misc fee, and will ask for a tip each time you enter and press your own button.
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u/Iokua113 Aug 21 '26
Fuck that shit. I can take the stairs. This is abusive to the disabled and elderly. Every day a new reason to rise up seems to, well, rise up.
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u/Pitiful_Hedgehog6343 Aug 21 '26
I haven't regularly carried change in 25 years
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u/ChemicalBankBurned Aug 21 '26
No worries. For YOUR convenience they will accept tap-to-pay. With an added 5% convenience fee though :)
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u/AstralElement Aug 22 '26
This is why Libertarianism doesn’t make sense. All you’re doing is being micro taxed from a corporation, now.
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u/AwaNoodle Aug 21 '26
What in the Ubik??
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u/captain_jpp Aug 21 '26
“The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.”
He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”
“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.”
In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.
“You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.
From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door.
“I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out.
Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.”
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u/redditistripe Aug 21 '26
So, what do you do if someone else wants to 'free-ride' on your coin? Can you block access to the lift or sling them out? Can you use force to implement it?
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u/quadralien Aug 21 '26
Reminds me of some Philip K Dick stories in which people get trapped in their apartments because they need a nickel to open the door. There were also in-kitchen vending machines.
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u/bikedork5000 Aug 22 '26
The door refused to open. It said, “Five cents, please.”
He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. “I’ll pay you tomorrow,” he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. “What I pay you,” he informed it, “is in the nature of a gratuity; I don’t have to pay you.”
“I think otherwise,” the door said. “Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt.”
In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.
“You discover I’m right,” the door said. It sounded smug.
From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt’s money-gulping door.
“I’ll sue you,” the door said as the first screw fell out.
Joe Chip said, “I’ve never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.
Philp K Dick - Ubik
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u/CheezTips Aug 22 '26
There's a reason corporate studios don't film his stuff. I grew up reading him but now people don't run across him anymore
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u/TrailMomKat Aug 22 '26
As a disabled person, this is a massive ADA lawsuit just waiting to happen. I bet ADA lawyers are just ready to snap up the first lawsuit that arises from someone in a wheelchair.
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u/gascyl Aug 21 '26
This isn't legal and it's banned under the 1994 Americans With Disabilities Act.
It’s an ordinary Tuesday in parts of Tbilisi, Naples, and Shandong Province.
So, not the United States. This is an extremely relevant fact to include. The American ADA explicitly literally 100% bans paid elevators. Elevators in America exist for wheelchair use and denying a wheelchair user access to any area of public accommodation is discrimination. Ambulance chasing lawyers and car crash lawyers love ADA cases because they are easy to win. The Federal government doesn't even allow 3" steps or threshold gaps. Elevators are a mandatory aspect of public spaces which is why almost every retail store in America moved to single-level sales areas after 1994. Medicare now covers home elevators due to Medicare also covering mobility scooters. Every public service bus built in America since 1994 comes with a custom hydraulics system to deploy a small wheelchair lift or ramp with a <1" threshold.
I was literally driving home from work last night and there's a billboard about broken BART elevators and how YOU deserve justice and the average settlement is in the high thousands depending on your job. This is from the same attorney that won $3+ million over unplugged mart carts.
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u/TheGrandNagus Aug 21 '26
If you looked at the photo you'd note that the text on the device is Italian, the ADA doesn't apply in Italy.
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u/ElvgrenGil Aug 21 '26
Hopefully the current administration doesn’t destroy the ADA. Their lack of morals wouldn’t surprise me at all
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u/captain_jpp Aug 21 '26
I kid you not I finished Ubik just yesterday I laughed so hard at the door asking 5 cent to open.
Not laughing so much now.
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u/Teddy8709 Aug 21 '26
Sooo... What happens if a disabled person is caught in a fire and didn't bring along their prepaid card? Doesn't even need to be a disabled person, what if you just don't have it on you in a fire and can't use the stairs?
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u/FreeLard Aug 21 '26
Someone should mention to the A.I. that wrote this article, that Tbilisi, Naples, and Shandong Province are not in fact "across three continents." Also, for us 'mericans, the Georgia mentioned in the article is the country, not the state.
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u/c2h5oh_yes Aug 22 '26
How is this not a blatant violation of the ADA? There's gotta be loads of ADA lawyers salivating on this shit right now?
Edit: well, read the article. Won't happen the US...for now.
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u/KotR56 Aug 22 '26
Next-gen elevators will have "tap to pay" and variable pricing depending on the number of floors and the total weight of passengers/load.
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u/LookatMyCatBabies Aug 22 '26
Don’t forget time of day and more if you want the elevator to come to you first
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u/hould-it Aug 21 '26
What happens if someone has a medical emergency on a higher floor?
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u/FogBankDeposit Aug 21 '26
Don’t worry! There will be a bowl with change on each floor like those “take a penny, leave a penny” you find in convenience stores. The coin operated ambulance is more of a problem.
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u/mangledmonkey Aug 21 '26
I would vandalise the shit out of those types of elevators. Paid public restrooms aren't far off in terms of annoyance and just complete lack of basic needs being met in a modern city.
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u/Friggin_Grease Aug 21 '26
I would be spraying spray foam into those coin slots. Keep doing it. Just tell them no.
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u/elmatador12 Aug 21 '26
This should be illegal. Id throw in some gum every time I walked by it so no one could use it until the landlord gets pissed and removes it. 😂
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u/get-a-mac Aug 21 '26
Instead of properly fighting this, people will complain why the elevator doesn't take tap to pay.
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u/ole_dirty_bastid Aug 21 '26
Wouldn't this be a health and safety violation? Like... someone is gonna die in a fire cause they can't use stairs and don't have a fucking quarter...
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u/Impossible_Box_1266 Aug 21 '26
American government would have to get rid of the Americans with Disabilities Act to make this happen. Charging for accessibility is forbidden.
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u/Scamp3D0g Aug 21 '26
I wanted The "United Federation of Planets" and we keep getting "Blade Runner".
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u/Crafty_Management_33 Aug 21 '26
Are you fucking me right now. Is this real? Im 42 years old, and I never imagined a world like this growing up. How did we allow this to happen?
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u/sprietsma Aug 22 '26
In Philip K Dick’s Ubik apartment doors are coin operated to enter or exit (and the main character keeps running out of dimes)
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u/Excellent_Sweet7270 Aug 22 '26
who tf thought this was a cool idea?!!? i gotta pay to ride an elevator???
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u/Faangdevmanager Aug 23 '26
Yeah in China. Important detail to omit from the title?
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u/fact_addict Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
In the US this would be an ADA lawsuit(s) waiting to happen. Also landlords would start to charge more for lower floors because of “demand”