
Smok.io’s connected electronic cigarette tracks your habit puff by puff - liam_boogar
http://www.rudebaguette.com/2013/12/16/smok-ios-connected-electronic-cigarette/
======
sneak
Electronic cigarettes are not a dirty habit. They don't smell and nicotine
addiction is not particularly harmful.

The problem is inhaling smoke, and forcing others around you to inhale smoke
against their will.

Being a nicotine junkie is acceptable. Inhaling and exhaling combustion
byproducts is not.

~~~
bmelton
I think that the problem is that ecigs still produce vapor, and the anti-
smoking industry has spend nearly a generation convincing people that second-
hand smoke is the devil. Having long ago quit smoking indoors to keep from
subjecting others to second-hand smoke, I understand the stigma, but there are
those who will simply refuse to be convinced that vapor is not the same as
second-hand smoke, which is why so many places are rushing to ban indoor
ecigs, regardless of how non-sensical those policies might be.

~~~
bmelton
This is @Borogravia, who seems to have been hellbanned.

1) You've been hellbanned.

2) I wasn't referring to the grass-roots effort, but specifically, the anti-
smoking lobby, specifically Michael Bloomberg, who has spent $600 million of
his own money in anti-smoking campaigns, and who seems immune to facts.

He has done a world of good, and I'm glad that the world smokes less, and I
applaud his anti-smoking efforts...

so hopefully that will diffuse the ad hominem that he is also an ignorant boor
who seems utterly and completely immune to facts.

~~~
hbags
It's hard to take you seriously when you refer to a single individual giving
away a huge chunk of wealth with no hope of earning a return as being an
"industry".

~~~
bmelton
I actually pared that down from what I originally wrote, to the detriment of
clarity. Please accept my upvote along with my apologies.

Regardless, the man's $600 billion went to found a number of charities for the
purpose of putting out anti-smoking ads in states across the nation. He is
also rumored to have been a major contributor to "thetruth" (apparently, it's
a big secret) who, despite the good that they do, were also filthy with
misinformation.

You're not entirely wrong that one man doesn't make an industry, but if one
man started 20 companies that all shared the same purpose, would that _not_
constitute an industry? Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe I'm using industry wrong.
Either way, I agree that I misspoke, so hopefully this at least clarifies my
position somewhat.

~~~
hbags
Giving $600MM away with no hope of earning a return is not an industry. Full
stop.

------
systematical
It's not conclusive that e-cigs are not hazardous to your health. And I'm not
talking about the nicotine in them. Search around there are studies showing
there are other chemicals in these, but its hard to know for sure still.

*Note, I'm using an e-cig right now as a quitting aid. So this isn't some anti e-cig post.

~~~
bmelton
In my experience, it's not very effective as a quitting aid. My knowledge
could be very inconclusive, as there are specifically "quit smoking" flavors
that I have not tried, but at least anecdotally, I've found myself smoking far
more often with e-cigarettes than I did with tobacco.

The flip side of that is that I'm in far better health than I was, and my
respiratory system has rebounded to the point where I no longer wheeze going
up a long flight of stairs, and it's of course far less expensive than
cigarettes were.

There may prove to be downsides, but the recipes themselves aren't exactly
complicated. If you pay attention to what you're getting, and buy from
reputable vendors, you shouldn't have to worry about secret ingredients, or
whether or not it's being cut with arsenic or anything.

If you're very worried about it, you can make your own liquid too.

~~~
comrh
I hardest part I've noticed is judging the nicotine level you should start
with. I started to high and ended up getting more addicted to nic then I had
to begin with. After mixing the solution with 0% nic and slowly lowering the
level I've successfully cut down my amount quite a bit.

~~~
bmelton
I'm definitely in the 'more addicted' stage at this point, to the degree that
I've rationalized away any need to quit. I'm actually entertaining something
more like this[1], y'know, to have fun with it.

[1] -
[https://www.thevaporgirl.com/Images/products/batteries/TGBat...](https://www.thevaporgirl.com/Images/products/batteries/TGBatteries/Dragon%20Pipe/Dragon-
Pipe3.jpg)

~~~
robmclarty
I think the main problem with e-cigs is that you're still taking in the
addictive Nicotine. When you "cut down" and delay smoking, that next puff
seems even more "pleasurable" because you're now relieving yourself of the
physical withdrawal. That sort of "pleasure" messes with your mind because you
_think_ it feels good when in fact you're simply getting back to what non-
smokers normally feel like (by removing the withdrawal symptoms). And then,
only having delayed the inevitable, you're able to go another hour or two,
before you withdraw again, and need another fix, re-addicting yourself again
and again. I really don't understand the point of trying to quit using a drug
while continuing to use said drug.

IMHO the problem of quitting smoking is mostly a psychological one. If you can
get your head on straight, the physical withdrawal symptoms are actually quite
minimal.

~~~
bmelton
And therein lies the rub -- I don't mind being addicted to nicotine any more
than I mind being addicted to caffeine. To my current knowledge, they both
seem relatively harmless, aside from the addiction, until and unless one tries
to quit them, which causes withdrawals, and the cost is effectively
negligible.

The main reason for quitting smoking had less to do with health concerns than
cost, and not because the costs were unbearable, so much as that those costs
were ridiculous. Ecigs have changed the equation, and so long as my nicotine
budget stays lower than my caffeine budget, it's effectively negligible,
however ignorant it might be.

As for the rest, you're completely right. It _is_ a psychological problem. I'd
need to see a good reason for quitting nicotine before my head can agree that
there is one. I was worried about the costs rising, but they seem to be going
the other way. I was worried about the health risks of nicotine, but
indicators seem to be trending towards 'ecigs' are safe... and while I'm aware
that the science could be wrong, incomplete, or even manipulated, I've gone
from 'trying to quit' to 'meh, it's a harmless vice' mentally.

------
kronholm
Janty has had something similar for a while, their Mid series. Hook it up to
USB and you can program it in all sorts of ways, save/load profiles, change
the puff LED colour to any RGB value, etc. It even has a joystick(!).
[http://www.janty.com/en/mid-series](http://www.janty.com/en/mid-series)

------
SimpleXYZ
E-cigs are not supposed to help people quit. They are a smoking alternative.

~~~
grandpoobah
I started using e-cigs about a month ago and I have no interest in quitting. I
enjoyed smoking cigarettes previously but felt guilty about what I was putting
in my lungs, now I use an e-cig and it brings me more pleasure than smoking
with none of the guilt. However, let's get one thing straight, this is not
cheaper. If you let it, it quickly turns into a hobby and you want to spend
all of your money on new equipment and flavors.

~~~
SimpleXYZ
Yeah there is a lot of cool e-cig stuff out there. But I would think it's
still cheaper in the long run.

There is a lot of studies that still need to be done. My personal theory is
that since 1/3 of smoking related deaths are due to nicotine, e-cigs are about
66% "safer" than analog cigs.

~~~
mercer
Interesting. I was under the assumption that nicotine is no more dangerous
than caffeïne, and that the primary danger of smoking is inhalation of burning
tobacco particles (and some other chemicals).

A cursory glance at the wikipedia article also doesn't mention that nicotine
is that dangerous.

Could you elaborate? I'm honestly curious.

~~~
SimpleXYZ
Well, consuming straight nicotine is a brand new phenom, and science is racing
to catch up. Give it 10 years for any definitive science to be peer reviewed,
confirmed, and then generally accepted. Take a look at things like this:
[http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20060720/nicotine-speeds-
lu...](http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20060720/nicotine-speeds-lung-cancer)

I can't find my original sources, so please, take my personal theories with a
grain of salt... Many years ago I was studying the types of cancer smokers are
more likely to get other than lung cancer. After my uncontrollable urge to
crunch numbers, I came up with 2/3 lung cancer, 1/3 other cancer and made an
unscientific guess that nicotine plays a big part in the non-lung cancer
related illness.

