Apparently some are wholly disconnected, but not all, leading to some pedestrians just standing there through multiple traffic cycles because they read a cracked article in 2010 that said the buttom doesn't do anything. Pressing a second time definitely doesn't do anything but provide stress relief though.
Related is elevator close-door buttons. I hold them down for a long time which seems to work well, but for some elevators it doesn't.
I periodically give things away to people who just immediately sell them. I never trust them again, and it's rarely items I directly need, I just like to have them around to loan to people.