That is why I was hesitant to post my thoughts. One one one coaching with a newbie would prevent all the frustrations and shenanigans out there. Unfortunately, how many have the luxury of a friend for one on one. If they got introduced to e-cig in person, then yes their learning curve would be much shallower. OTOH if they got introduced via the Internet, that is a whole different kettle of fish. Combine that with withdrawal symptoms and information overload and you have a frustrating combination not conducive to good vaping practices.
And this is the crux of the problem... I've noticed on these forums that there are a number of people who have become self-proclaimed experts. And some of these within extremely short periods of time of beginning vaping. There are so many people who seem to think that if they read it on the Internet, it is the gospel truth. And these people are believing the so-called experts.
When it comes to research on these forums newbies need to look at a couple things:
First, the "search" function is your best friend. All too often newbies will post questions/problems without first doing the research. These new threads are being answered by other newbies, and not the veterans who know what they are talking about. A lot of veterans (me included sometimes) will look at the new posts and roll their eyes. "I've answered that question before - 20 times before. I'm bored with it." There are a lot of other veterans who just don't go trolling the New Members section anymore... and sometimes for this reason.
When I was a newbie I read every thread there was on the different models I was considering before purchasing. (I am NOT exaggerating. It took me about two weeks... and that was a year and a half ago. This forum has grown so much since.) The other thing I did was similar to what you suggest when talking about one-on-one coaching. I went to my vendors. I specifically chose vendors that would make the time to help me out when I needed guidance. I spent HOURS on the phone and in emails with them. When I lived in Phoenix, where there were local vendors in abundance, I met up with them for coffee and picked their brains. A good vendor knows his product inside-out and backwards and will be more than happy to help you along the way. It's just good for business.
Secondly, it's important when searching to look at more than one thread, and read the ENTIRE thread. I've seen people take the advice given on page 1 of a thread, when if they would have continued reading they would have noticed that there was an update to the experience/advice on page 4. Also, take opinions with a grain of salt. When I look at a poster's advice, I look at not only how many posts they have made, but also how long they have been vaping. Just because they have 1000 posts under their belt, does not make them an expert. (For example, Switched joined the forums 6 months after I did, and has >4900 posts to my <500. You can take his word as gospel, though. Most of the time. As for me, personally, I don't claim to be an expert on anything - other than that CP sucks. <g> )
In regards to the eGo-T specifically though, I'm thinking that our opinions on whether to recommend it to new vapers are a bit skewed by the fact that it is fairly new technology, and being such, we are watching the threads regarding it with more interest. There are likely just as many threads out there - if not more - from newbies having problems with their 510s or M401s. We just don't pay attention to them anymore. They hold little interest. If I think back to the learning curve there was when I first starting vaping, I think the eGo-T has less of one for a newbie.
~plink plink~
