The definition of terms used... "analog" and "vaping"

[Train2]

I think the origin IS your first example.
It's an inaccurate relationship when you consider the MEANING of the words, but the concept that's familiar is that OLD audio recording formats were analog, and NEW recording formats are digital. Change digital to "electronic" and you have
Old (cigarette) vs. New (electronic cigarette)

The problems with the terminology include
a) There's no indication there distinguishing the difference between smoke and vapor
b) Analog recording was called analog for a reason, which doesn't fit cigarettes (the way variations in air pressure are converted to variations in some recording medium - like vinyl).
c) There's arguments that the quality of an analog recording can be superior to a digital recording (in which the variations are converted to numbers - those numbers can be reproduced precisely, but they are approximations to begin with).

So anyway, I think that's where it came from, and is intended to emphasize that cigs are low-tech.

I don't really understand the term "analog" when referring to cigarettes. Maybe it's because I'm an electronic engineer for too many years that I care to share, I'm also a guitar/bass musician for almost as long. When I think of "analog" I think of LP's or cassette's, that is vinyl albums or magnetic tape format. Not the digital media that is so prevalent these days (CD's, DVD's, etc.). What I don't understand is the reference to actual cigarettes as "analog" as compared to e-cigs? Actually, both are "analog" in a sense. One just utilizes natural process of "slow-burning" tobacco, whereas the other uses a vaporizing electrical process via a DC power source and various natural (or otherwise) chemicals. Yet is still an "analog" process, that is, a liquid vaporized by an electrical coil. Not something new, really, and a "analog" process at that.

So what's the difference in terms? Is it just a "term"? Or is there something I am missing?

Just curious

 

[ShariR]

I find calling a cigarette an analog is silly. It is a cigarette, people. So are the people who call cigarettes analogs and stinkies going to get cooties from being in the vicinity of a smoker?

 

[TafkanX]

I think it's just a silly word that pokes a little bit of lighthearted fun at the old habit that we're so happy to have kicked. Jargon isn't a bad thing, it helps one identify with other members of a community and has a similar effect in technical fields, the military and other professional organizations, etc. Don't get too hung up on the literal definition.

 

[Ryedan]

I think it's just a silly word that pokes a little bit of lighthearted fun at the old habit that we're so happy to have kicked. Jargon isn't a bad thing, it helps one identify with other members of a community and has a similar effect in technical fields, the military and other professional organizations, etc. Don't get too hung up on the literal definition.

I think you've got the jist of it TafkanX. And as ShariR said, 'it is a cigarette, people'. And no matter what any of us thinks about it, for the next ten years at least, for better or worse, they will be called analogs on ECF ...

Get used to it ...

 

[NicoHolic]

First, a cigarette can not operate at 'an infinitely variable level'. It has to maintain combustion and it also has a maximum rate of production.

Infinitely variable means there is a continuous range with an infinite number of possible values between the minimum and maximum. It doesn't mean there's no minimum or maximum.

Second, my mechanical mod is not binary. It produces the amount of vapor that the analogue battery that is powering it puts out at a given state of charge.

A digital circuit has a range of voltage over which it will operate in on and off states. Just because the power supply voltage can vary doesn't make it analog.

 

[Asbestos4004]

Sometimes these threads make me think I'm not serious enough. Perhaps, more things should bother me. What DOES bother me is why there is braille on the buttons of a drive up ATM machine.

 

[Craterz]

Thank you everyone for your opinions!!! I really do appreciate everyone's view one this subject! Forgive me for not checking in over the last few days on the subject, however the responses have been... how to say... entertaining and educational... at the same time.

Although I must admit, this is a subject that is open to individual interpretation. That is... one person's opinion is not another's.

Anyway... IMHO (to follow along with the other acronyms that were shared... "In My Humble Opinion"), "vaping", as it is referred to as, is essentially a chemical medium that is vaporized over a heating coil. Which is just too much like an incandescent light bulb, IMHO, despite the fact that an "e-cig" is heated by a DC source rather than an AC source as it is performed for a traditional incandescent light bulb, doesn't really make the difference between "analog" and "digital". As in my original, dare I say... "argument"... there is really no difference. Not nearly the difference between what has happened in music technology over the last recent decades.

Regardless... I do appreciate all the responses. Even though I'm still confused, but this is likely due to that I am just being too critical of the actual terms. In other words, it's just IMHO.

 

[madqatter]

I think the origin IS your first example.
It's an inaccurate relationship when you consider the MEANING of the words, but the concept that's familiar is that OLD audio recording formats were analog, and NEW recording formats are digital. Change digital to "electronic" and you have
Old (cigarette) vs. New (electronic cigarette).... So anyway, I think that's where it came from, and is intended to emphasize that cigs are low-tech.

I think Train2 is right about the origin of the term-- I've understood it to be an attempt to playfully apply, however inaccurately, audio recording terms. Yes, it's inaccurate. Yes, there are problems with it. Yes, it drives many people crazy. But I think that was the intended joke.