Ok call me crazy, but I do think elevators can be a healthy interest. Hear me out: If you're an engineer, or engineering major, or someone who likes history, elevators and escalators have some history, if you're into technical stuff, it can be interesting. I suppose you might want to try riding in an elevator from the 1950s, if you're writing a thesis or page of an American history textbook about the history of elevators.
But, these guys take it to a seriously unhealthy level. An elevator isn't something worth getting into online arguments about. Racing to ride in an elevator is stupid. Elevators don't have services and other cool features like cars and planes do. It's stupid to take time off of work, or not work to focus on your "hobby", and spend money just to ride in some elevators. There's more to the world, and man-made structures far more interesting. Elevators don't have that much of a large history, an elevator museum would not be something the general public would not pay to visit, what good would an elevator museun really be. I can see at most maybe having one or two old elevators in a larger museum exhibit to show what materials were used in elevators in the past. You can read about elevators in a book.
I don't see anything wrong with a person being curious to learn more about how elevators work, but a full fandom is just silly.
For sure.
Firstly, Elevator/'vertical transportation' consultants probably make a
shit ton of money.
There's even a book specifically about 'vertical transportation' which I stumbled upon some time ago:
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470404132.html
"This new edition of a one-of-a-kind handbook provides an essential updating to keep the book current with technology and practice. New coverage of topics such as machine-room-less systems and current operation and control procedures, ensures that this revision maintains its standing as the premier general reference on vertical transportation. A team of new contributors has been assembled to shepherd the book into this new edition and provide the expertise to keep it up to date in future editions. A new copublishing partnership with Elevator World Magazine ensures that the quality of the revision is kept at the highest level, enabled by Elevator World's Editor, Bob Caporale, joining George Strakosch as co-editor."
$180 USD / 624 pages
It's actually somewhat interesting to gently read into and about how some famous examples of buildings which didn't install enough elevators (and you can't really install more once you've built it) meaning the entire buildings were basically duds.
I suppose the videos are also a bit interesting when it comes to unique/older elevators and probably a great resource for video games / art designers and other creative types.
However the arguments and infighting between the different factions is pretty unique and what makes the "Elevator & Escalator Club" hilarious in its own right (besides the topic, I mean the topic of elevators could be pretty much switched with just about anything).
So, in of itself, the whole "elevator obsession' is fairly unremarkable. Even when you look at people who have dedicated years of their life to it, it's not that interesting. But when you peel back the actual hobby and look at just the human behavior, then it becomes really interesting / a comedy goldmine.
Well there's also people who film tornado siren tests. That's right they film tests of tornado sirens. A minor monthly annoyance for those of us living in the Midwest is a special interest for some.
While this is also a pretty obscure and arguably pointless hobby, its kind of cool for people to be able to have access to the sounds for quite a number of reasons (video games/movies and whatever else).
...although I do wonder if the "siren crew" have factions and infighting....
