There are a handful of videos from E3 (97 or 98) showing off the original 3DRealms development of Prey. One of the things that didn't survive into Human Head's version on the Doom3 engine was rotating portals, or if they did they were rare that I don't remember them.
Yes! This is what I concluded when, a few years back, I did a similar analysis to what matthiasl posted. <shameless plug> If you're interested in this kind of thing, please check out my book, Exploding the Phone. https://explodingthephone.com </shameless plug>
It’s often wrong anyway. Much like you, the thing that annoys me most about it though is all the power they must be using having it run on every single search by anyone.
Microwaves that are just time and power setting, cooktops that are just four knobs, ovens that are just mode and heat, maybe a simple timer… I’d buy those too.