> I suppose the same is not true in a skyscraper. Do elevators shut down in those too?
Generally, yes. In very tall buildings it will often be possible to seek authorization to use elevators for evacuation but you need to specifically arrange for the elevators and rest of the building to be suitable, in most cases it makes more sense for the evacuation plan to rely on stairwells instead. Walking down even 100 flights is a huge annoyance, but it's not impossible for able-bodied adults.
You'll know if you visit a building where the elevators are to be used in evacuation because they'll say very clearly on them that's what you should do, it's part of the regulations authorizing such things in the US and other countries I looked at with this allowance.
In addition most tall residential buildings have "Remain in place" strategies where evacuation would rarely be needed because the building is supposed to be designed so that most occupants are in no danger from likely emergencies such as a fire in another residence.
> I wouldn't think that the idea that hardware should obey its operator would need to be defended in HN of all places.
"I am entitled to whatever I want" is indeed a pretty common libertarian nonsense we see on HN but it tend to get shot down more often than not. There's no reason that hardware should be designed to do unreasonable things just because that's "obeying its operator".