Right before I started typing this and while I was reading your post, I had a Rev 4 Dober in my hand. To me, the thing just feels very right. Soild, quality, smaller size, nothing there that's not needed, etc. And I remembered that was what I thought the first time I bought one and started using one.
So it strikes me - I wonder if a new vaper would sense any of that while using one? It's pretty much one of those deals where the item is greater than the sum of the parts, and maybe you have to have used some lesser mods to see the difference.
I can tell you this:
My fellow vapers (and I use that term VERY loosely) at work, many of whom have just made the switch within the last year or two, have no idea the struggles or journeys many of us have been through.
There are so many “open and go” mod w/ tank kits on the market, that they’ve never known the battle to find a good mod or a good tank, or both.
That being said, they also can’t seem to appreciate the quality of higher end gear.
I showed them my Billet Box, and one guy immediately says his friend got “one of those” on that Chinese website for a fraction of the price. Mind you, he’s not saying this from the standpoint of “clones are better/just the same”...he has no idea that there is such an issue as cloning in the vape world.
Showed them my Kayfun Lite [2019] and the mere mention of rebuilding it caused the glaze to slide over their eyes...and brought some comments about how complicated and “not worth it” the process was.
It would seem, that once punched cartos unlocked the idea of tanks, and then SvöeMesto unlocked the idea of the rebuildable tank with the Kayfun, followed by Aspire unlocking the idea of easy-to-use factory coil tanks with the Nautilus...well, vaping began dying the slow death of convenience over quality.
And the “unlocks” I’m referring to here, just for clarity, are based on the most mainstream versions of devices that sparked/caught the flame of popularity.
I’m aware that there were many other devices/products that pushed innovation along over the years...but those three things are the easiest to grab from memory and put on a rough timeline.
