Why Vaping Might Fail... (Manufacturers, Distributors please note)

[ElProximo]

Someone I know wanted to switch to vaping. They have enough problems in life and were not interested in a new 'Technology Hobby' and that is what they got in short time. First they are happy enough. Then an atomizer dies.
Now they find out that style is phased away and the new 'Pen Style' is available. They can't find parts for their old one.
Soon they have to reinvest another $100. That goes well but now they need to buy a battery and still want their money's worth from the old product.
$50 later it turns out this passthrough doesn't work with this style and the atomizer they ordered doesn't fit their newer kit.
Now they are confused about 'cartomizers' or 'carts' or what is what. They end up spending $50 on what was the wrong ones.
Now they are spending hours a day on forums and another $140 later they have a new kit but low and behold the old stuff doesn't interchange.
Another time and another $60 and they ordered some drip-tips or something that it turns out are for the other model but now that model has no batteries.
$50
30
12
Now they have a good size BOX of non-interchangeable parts, atomizers, batteries and literally cannot even combine the working ones into one working e-cig.

To really kick once more - they were confused about e-juice and finally learn they can use that to refill but end up with 'Base' they don't know what-the-hell is for.

They used to simply buy cigarettes. All are the same. Light and smoke. Even if you got the wrong brand your lighter still works on it.

This person is done. They see it as having now $300 worth of parts (most working but in no combinations),
and,
they nearly waste hours a day trying to learn 501, 04023s. juicecarty addy-atoms, which 'threads' screw into which X02r2w3 Model
(to him its what it sounds like) and the screwedyplugs and 24309MMMs and then...

...he is done. He didn't want to become a 'computer nerd' or a 'math expert' and can't be bothered going back and forth to the Post Office every other day.

I could not say a bad word to him because I TOTALLY understand. I actually have the same box of non-standarized, multi-model parts and accessories, batteries and atomizers where I MIGHT be able to make one 'Frankenstein',
and,
Yep, I have ordered the wrong parts too (actually have a few atomizers to trade later here heh),
but,
I could TOTALLY understand why he is finished and won't ever order or look at another vaping product ever again.

Now the fact we are here discussing it means we probably are the 'Keeners' who are happy to become all knowledgeable about the 501 versus the 901 and use terms like 'Atty' and 'Cart' etc etc, but this 'barrier' to the broad common market is actually bad for us.
We WANT as much of a broad mainstream market buying these as possible. It puts the price down for us in the end.
IF vaping does (and it seem this way) become a 'Keener' niche full of jargon, required tech knowledge and full of non-standardized parts?
It keeps prices high and availability more difficult AND it leaves us with less 'political clout' when its an exclusive club.

BTW: This guy points out that he did NOT save any money. He figures it ended up costing him more (even though he smoked less if and when he had a working vaporizer).
So that is bad imo.

Any thought or ideas on this whole thing?
Are you giving up for similar reasons?

 

[pyro12]

I agree. It's fun to be able to play around and try different things, but a lot of people aren't going to be up for it. They just want to be able to vape and have a taste and th that they like.

 

[JusticeKnuckles]

i definitely know what you are saying and you make a valid argument but don't all new inventions start this way? hd tv's... for $2000 you could get a kickin plasma tv of a average size and now a 45" plasma is like $500, plasma's are even considered out of date to some lcd and led lcd has been shown to be the best value. Just last year 60hz refresh rate was the standard and now that is considered quite slow for current tv's. Computers and phones are the exact same too, your "new" object is only new for 1 month and something better with better specs and a better price comes along. My point is: things that are new constantly release new and better versions. Eventually something will come out and be the standard that everyone will have and everyone carries (ie: the joye 510 or the ego is probably the closest things to that).

 

[Linden]

I was very forunate to be directed to V4L and the Kr808 model. That being said, i had to spend the entire weekend questioning my decision to buy that model. I finally decided i had made a good choice, but it was pure dumb luck.
I can definitely see this being an issue since I was inches away from making a mistake myself.

 

[swedishfish]

I'm doing this because I desperately don't want to smoke and I can't quit. I tried and I can't.

Granted, there is an element of frustration and work involved. But I figure anything worth doing takes work.

When I was trying to lose weight it was definitely a lot more work to shop for and prepare healthy foods as opposed to McD's drive through. And it cost more. But it was worth it.

To stay semi-fit takes work. It's sure easier to sit in a chair then workout if your tired, or you had a bad day. It's work but worth it.

I put vaping in the same catagory. Yea, it's harder. Maybe more expensive, I don't know yet. But definitely worth it for someone like me that can't seem to quit. I hope I never get to the point where frustration wins out. I hope that better, more reliable pvs will come out. Until then I'll try to keep plugging away.

 

[Nomoreash]

I agree it can be confusing to start but if the research is done it doesn't have to be that confusing or expensive. I purchased my first kit..a Riva 7 months ago, both batteries still work great and I've only had 1 atomizer bite the dust in that time period.

I have moved on to mods but that was my choice and I still use the Riva at times. Moving on was my choice though and if I hadn't I would still be vaping on my $40 Kit I purchased 7 months and it beats the heck of any analog I've ever tried.

 

[swedishfish]

I can see what the OP is saying though. I was trying to explain this to my cousin and he doesn't have a computer (and I thought I was a dinosour because I don't text or tweet) and he had no idea how to get started or how to go about getting one.

 

[JD1]

Also keep in mind the pressure some of us put on ourselves to quit smoking. When I felt the throat and upper lung sensation of my first e-cig, I immediately decided I could probably make it work. It wasn't easy, but I did make it work because I was highly motivated to do so.

 

[n2xe]

I reject the OP's premise completely. I quit with a Joye 510 and mall nicquid. Only later did I discover SuperT manufacturing and Backwoods Brew. This can be as easy or complex as you want it to be. I still use the 510 on occasion, heck I have a handful of batteries and I like the size. You can pick up a Joye 510 with 2 batteries and a PCC for $50 these days and it will last for months. Switch to the eGo if you want longer battery life, that's a whopping $25 expense.

I think that "someone I know" simply wanted to keep smoking cigarettes. Cool, smoke away if that's your choice but don't complain about your inability to master something that's no harder to understand than changing a lightbulb.

 

[pixiedust]

I got my son's girlfriend vaping by giving her a cheap 510 kit and filling about a dozen carts for her with various flavors of juice. I showed her how to charge the 510 and how to change the cart- nothing else. About a week later I checked back and she was interested enough to ask me if I had some more of the 'caramel cappuccino' so that she could refill her empty carts with it, I gave her a bottle of juice and she's filling her own carts now. She mentioned that she would like a way to charge her battery while driving, so I gave her a link to order a car charger for it, but she seems very content with the humble gear that she has, so I think it's possible for a newb to use simple equipment and get by quite nicely with it. (maybe it's these forums that turn us into compulsive shoppers lol)

 

[GMoney]

Honestly, I do understand that it could possibly be a little intimidating to some. However, I think your friend is just lazy and just wants to keep smoking and likes to make excuses - and that's fine.

With the 2 piece setup, cartomizer and battery, you buy a kit and make sure you have cartomizers and your basicly done. No trips to the store to buy cigarettes, no frantically trying to find a lighter. Just charge your batteries like you have to for your cell phone. sure this may not be the cheapest option or the maximum vaping experience, but it is not harder or more expensive than smoking.

If he did do any real research and came to ecf, The wonderful people here(not me ), would have said "go to x website and buy this product" and he would have been done, NO engineering degree required.

The e-cig business is still in it's infancy and does have bugs to work out, but at the present time people can have a simple and easy experience at a price, or a cheap experience with some effort or an amazing experience at low cost with some effort.

Some people just want to keep smoking, and as far as I am concerned, it is their choice and their right(as long as we still have any personal rights anymore, I haven't checked today).

 

[toddos]

As others have pointed out, this industry is in its infancy. Assuming it doesn't get totally killed by the FDA and the scammy mall kiosk suppliers, things will eventually standardize, drop in price, and increase in quality. Already there's pretty much standardization on 510/306 or KR808D-1/901 threading, with adapters to go between pretty much everything you can think of.

Right now, there are basically two options.

1. You can stick with "name-brand" e-cig makers that don't have the best quality, prices, or reputation, but are big enough that they're not going away any time soon (Blu), or

2. You can dive into the hobby full-steam, get into mods, etc.

There is a middle ground where you can have quality turnkey PV equipment without turning this into a hobby, but unfortunately for the moment you really need to know someone from #2 or at least dip your feet in the pool in order to find out about quality suppliers like V4L or Bloog.

On the other hand, most smokers have addictive personalities (why we got addicted to smoking in the first place), and we're likely addicted to a lot of other stuff (the internet, coffee/caffeine, stamp collecting, whatever). In that light, it's pretty obvious why so many of us have made a hobby out of vaping.

 

[cookiebun]

It's not that difficult.
Start with a 510 or a kr808.
I detect a reading comprehension problem.
Do your research and you won't wind up in this situation.
That's my 2 cents. Sorry if it's cranky.

 

[CBB]

Technology always marches forward. Most of society works at keeping up with it but eventually we all at our time grow tired of the constant upgrading and settle into place where we cling onto our personal peaks and let the test of technology go on without us. It takes work to stay with the times.

Recently technology has been advancing by leaps and bounds particularly where electronics are involved. In ten years computers and television and probably even automobiles will be nothing like they are today. The tech that we are presently accustomed to will be long gone replaced by newer and better.

 

[wacdenney]

I felt, and still feel the same way sometimes. I started out with a desire to quit. I sat down at my computer and did a search. Of course the first thing to pop up was blu. I did what I thought was enough more research to feel comfortable buying a blu starter kit. I did quit smoking with my blu.

The problem I have now is this... I have an addictive personality, and by golly I think I might be getting addicted to all this stuff! I soon found that the l88b was insufficient for what I now want, so I went out and bought me a KR808d-1 and I am now shopping for a Joye 510. I just went TODAY and bought a tackle box for my quickly growing assortment of batteries, atomizers, cartomizers, various chargers, and assorted what nots. I have 2 orders of juice that should be here by the end of the week. My wife looks at my check book and questions if it wouldn't be cheaper to just keep smoking! I am text book cliche going overboard as usual...

However, I do not agree with the argument. As much as I now dislike my blu, it was the first ecig to pop up when I first searched and I did quit smoking with it. If I had so desired I could have easily kept purchasing blu products and never again smoked another analog nor ever learned what a 510 was. That's just not me! The blu battery was too sensative... so I went to volcano looking for a battery. While on the volcano website I noticed they had more flavors than blu so I ordered some carts. When my carts and battery came the battery worked great but the carts are 3 piece which I did not realize so I "had" to order some volcano atomizers. The ZVolcano carts didn't last long enough so..... and so on.... and so forth.....

That's just been my journey, but it didn't have to be. I could have stopped with my blu and been happy.
Or I could have done adequate research to begin with and went straight to V4L.
Either way it has been the way it has been because of the way I am, not because of the industry I think.
Develop a product for a bunch of addicted people with addictive personalities and this might just be what you end up with! Just sayin...

 

[Elendil]

The health benefits I am deriving, as well as just plain feeling better far outweigh any cost advantage that I might (or might not) gain and isn't that what this is really all about anyway?

 

[Hoosier]

Would it be easier if we only had one car we were able to purchase? Make parts easier to find.

Would it be better if there were only one cereal? No more pouring over labels to find something that "fits" your requirements.

Only one kind of clothing would be great! Nobody would be out of style or embarrassed about their outfit.

Only one operating system? No more compatibility problems.

Why stop at just PV's? How great would life be if everything was super simple?

 

[swedishfish]

It is for me.

My 77 year old mother is able to vape. Heck there's someone on the board that's blind and is able to vape.

Gotta wanna.

 

[tranced]

Would it be easier if we only had one car we were able to purchase? Make parts easier to find.

Would it be better if there were only one cereal? No more pouring over labels to find something that "fits" your requirements.

Only one kind of clothing would be great! Nobody would be out of style or embarrassed about their outfit.

Only one operating system? No more compatibility problems.

Why stop at just PV's? How great would life be if everything was super simple?

I quit smoking 50 weeks ago using a health e-cig setup, batteries lasted all of 1/2 hour each, cartridges held 7-8 drops of juice, you got 10 cartridges for $10. That served me through the first few weeks and lead me to a 901 passthrough. 50 weeks later I've built a 5v box mod and a riva 901. My money spent was on playing and trying juice out of the love of the hobby, not to find something that worked well enough to quit on.

This quote is for you Hoosier, thought you'd like it.
Imagine if all of life were determined by majority rule. Every meal would be a pizza. Every pair of pants, even those in a Brooks Brothers suit, would be stone-washed denim. Celebrity diet and exercise books would be the only thing on the shelves at the library. And — since women are a majority of the population — we’d all be married to Mel Gibson. - P.J. O' Rourke

 

[Hoosier]

...
This quote is for you Hoosier, thought you'd like it.
Imagine if all of life were determined by majority rule. Every meal would be a pizza. Every pair of pants, even those in a Brooks Brothers suit, would be stone-washed denim. Celebrity diet and exercise books would be the only thing on the shelves at the library. And — since women are a majority of the population — we’d all be married to Mel Gibson. - P.J. O' Rourke

Love it. I'm a grumpy old fart anyway and I like to read witty grumpy old farts.