OK. Look guys, jokes aside, it WILL happen. The electric car, laptop, cell phone market will drive battery tech. They have working Li-Ion batteries in the labs with TEN TIMES the performance of the current ones we use. I'm not going back a year to find the link to an old article, but every month or so there's another new tech article about "whoo hoo... promising battery tech ahead".
It WILL happen. Imagine a 510 with not 180 mAh... but 1800 mah. Or some higher voltage (full 3.7) and 1000 mAh in a cig-sized device. The amps go up too... so like IMR stuff (lower internal resistance). More charge cycles too!
I know that wasn't 100% of the OP's question. But like I said above, I don't care if it looks like smoking. It isn't. You can't fix stupid anyway... so why worry about it. The form factor of not having to lug around a bulky e-cig... priceless.
I wonder if the oil companies are buying all the "new battery tech" patents out? lol. Anyway, if they get it into mass production, I'd give the bulky mod market 3 years. Then it will just be specialty/niche stuff.
You'll probably have to pay more for em per battery though (new tech is always more $$/unit to start with... but could save in the long run).
I'm totally with you here. I have no doubt in my mind the day will come. The analogue size is desirable to me simply because it's the best form factor. THATS the reason cigs are the size they are. Cigars, Pipes, Hookas, etc all exist, but the cig is the #1 tobacco product simply because it's easy to carry and use. That's why I sat down my pipe years ago and started smoking cigs (to much regret).
As for the tech, you are on the money. Honestly, battery tech has come lightyears in just the past decade or so. As gadgets become more and more mainstream (SmartPhones, Ipods, Tablets, etc), not to mention electric cars and products in other industries, the tech will come along fast. Its simple really. The product that sells the most is the one with the most features and longest battery life. And all those features chew up power.
Also, and I know you were joking, but I'd still like to comment. The Fossil Fuel Industry cares
zero about any emerging "energy" tech. Reason is because it has no impact on their business. That may sound crazy, but
all politics aside, it simply comes down to science. Fossil fuel is the most energy dense source of power on the planet (that is readily available -- so leaving out theoretical stuff like cold fusion, etc). This is especially true in it's refined forms, such as gasoline. AND It also happens to be the cheapest. All you have to do, is poke a hole in the ground (a deep one these days) and bring it to the surface. All the other new sources, solar, wind, bio, etc, are much more pricey (if you exclude government assistance) and none are as energy dense. ... I left out batteries here because they aren't really a source of power. They are a tank that you fill up from the wall socket, and the power that you fill them up with is still most likely to come from fossil fuel. In fact, I'd bet the Fossil Fuel Industry loves batteries because the more power we consume, the more fuel we'll burn.
edit: I should say, the most energy dense
except for nuclear, but I'm not going into that because I've already derailed this fella thread enough.
As for the cost of new tech, yep. The first of anything is pricey, but I'll be standing in line.
