Ask HN: Have you noticed this peculiarity on vending machines?
[advance apologies for the trivial nature of this post. Hope it finds a fit on your Saturday =]
A vending machine at my workplace has a 10 item row with water bottles (all same brand and label) numbered in the range [51-60].
As is customary in current vending machines you select the item by entering a double digit number on a keypad.
When I'm buying water I always select item number 55 (because I find it more convenient to just press the same button twice without looking than typing any of the other options that have 2 different digits).
Surprise, surprise, item 55 is always the first one to sell out on that row. Which means most people also do the same convenience trick as me.
Have you noticed any similar "hidden" patterns like this one?
8 comments
[ 1.7 ms ] story [ 31.5 ms ] threadI usually pick 51, no idea why.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law
which is an observation about scale invariant quantities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law#Scale_invarian...
If you don't vote you have to pay fees, cannot work on the public sector or get a passport.
So it is very common for the candidates with number 12345 being elected[1].
Or the ones with 123,111 [2] [3]
Even Business companies try to make "easier" for you to remember their number.
[1] - https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elei%C3%A7%C3%B5es_distritais_...
[2] - https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elei%C3%A7%C3%B5es_distritais_...
[3] - https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elei%C3%A7%C3%B5es_estaduais_n...