Past all the obvious points like, “smoking is bad,” “smoking in the car is worse,” etc, this still seems like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and might make things worse. Even the standard electric lighters in the dash at the time seem like a better option. I always assumed those were a backup anyway.
This thing has a hopper that can hold a pack’s worth of loose cigarettes, but the user has to load them in there. Needless to say, orientation matters, so that’s one more thing that can go wrong. On top of that, if the device isn’t the primary source of cigarettes, then there’s just an open pack of cigarettes sitting in a hot car, going stale for most of the day. That is, unless the user primarily works in their vehicle, this device mostly just oxidizes cigarettes. Even then, nothing about the function of the device is faster or simpler than someone grabbing a cigarette, putting it in their mouth and using a conventional lighter, all of which can also be done one-handed.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one, but chain-smokers are probably the target market. I used to work with a guy who would light the next cigarette with the cherry of the last one.
You also talking about the era that was framed by almost nonsensical conveniences.
Past all the obvious points like, “smoking is bad,” “smoking in the car is worse,” etc, this still seems like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and might make things worse. Even the standard electric lighters in the dash at the time seem like a better option. I always assumed those were a backup anyway.
This thing has a hopper that can hold a pack’s worth of loose cigarettes, but the user has to load them in there. Needless to say, orientation matters, so that’s one more thing that can go wrong. On top of that, if the device isn’t the primary source of cigarettes, then there’s just an open pack of cigarettes sitting in a hot car, going stale for most of the day. That is, unless the user primarily works in their vehicle, this device mostly just oxidizes cigarettes. Even then, nothing about the function of the device is faster or simpler than someone grabbing a cigarette, putting it in their mouth and using a conventional lighter, all of which can also be done one-handed.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one, but chain-smokers are probably the target market. I used to work with a guy who would light the next cigarette with the cherry of the last one.
You also talking about the era that was framed by almost nonsensical conveniences.
Ya but then there’s no robot
Your succinct rebuttal captures so perfectly what I believe was very likely the attitude of that era.