• cannedtuna
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    1 day ago

    So, they actually sort of still make these, but as an in-wall unit. It’s a flush faceplate with a hole that you insert a cigarette into to light it. The reason these still exist? For places like prisons or behavioral and mental health facilities where patients might smoke but it’s too dangerous to give them access to a lighter.

    • SpaceNoodle
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      1 day ago

      But they’d then have access to something burning … it’s not that hard to start a fire with a cigarette

      • ChicoSuave
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        1 day ago

        Sneaking a smoking object into an area with flammable materials will be obvious.

        • SpaceNoodle
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          1 day ago

          Lit cigarettes don’t give off much smoke by themselves, you could sneak it pretty easily.

  • Remember_the_tooth
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    1 day ago

    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.

    • DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      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.

      • Remember_the_tooth
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        1 day ago

        Your succinct rebuttal captures so perfectly what I believe was very likely the attitude of that era.

  • iThinkDifferentThanU
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    1 day ago

    just be careful, you don’t wanna spill your drink while you light up. That’s alcohol abuse if ya spill it

  • toofpic
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    1 day ago

    Nothing should stand between you and your addiction!