Brits Still Working on Stinky Email

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Brits Still Working on Stinky Email

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Friday February 20, 2004 @05:43AM from the obligatory-french-joke-here dept.

prostoalex writes "British Internet provider Telewest Broadband is testing a system, which allows people to attach specific smells to their e-mail. It works with air freshener cartridge that one plugs into PC. The technology is developed by a US-based company Trisenx, which features the products and pricing on its Web site. A 20-channel serial port device costs $269, the same price for optional software package allowing the user to author specific smells. The replacement cartridges are $48 each." They're hardly the first attempt at adding smell to the computer experience. Digiscent didn't work out so well.

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Money... by DRUNK_BEAR · 2004-02-20 05:44 · Score: 2, Insightful

For smelling, the price stinks too! ;)

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DrkBr
Why? by E-Rock · 2004-02-20 05:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

Am I just missing it, or is there no possible use for such a device? What would it do that anyone would pay $300 for one?
1. Re:Why? by jfengel · 2004-02-20 05:53 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Well, it would be kind of interesting to add a smell factor to first-person-shooters. "Look out, I smell bad guys", or "I think there's some food over that way."
  
  Artistically, an accompanying scent would serve the same purpose as a soundtrack: to set a mood. The smell of smoke and ozone would be a cool accompaniment to an FPS. Or putting a bit of perfume on a love letter: a distinctive aroma can be highly evocative.
  
  Admittedly, I'm not paying $300 for either of those things.
2. Re:Why? by jpmkm · 2004-02-20 06:11 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  If something in a game triggered a smell then this device would release some aroma. You move to a different part of the game, but your room still smells like the previous part of the game because you move through the game much faster than the aroma disapates. When you go to a different part of the game another smell comes out. Soon your room is filled with a combination of smells which tell you nothing. This device is stupid and pointless. I have absolutely no desire for my computer to produce smells. That's just dumb. If these devices are ever actually released, I can see every one of them showing up in a thrift shop in about ten years.
3. Re:Why? by Metal_Demon · 2004-02-20 06:13 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  This could actually be kind of cool for games. Of course we all know everybody will just start getting spam selling spam that smell like...spam. The only thing this will get used for is to try and get people to buy food online (no thanks) and to send people fart-mail. Like you said deffinately not worth $300 for food related spam and fart jokes.
  
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  Trust Your Technolust
4. Re:Why? by DunbarTheInept · 2004-02-20 08:49 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Well, it would be kind of interesting to add a smell factor to first-person-shooters.
  
  Do you realize what a room full of people who died in a gunfight would smell like?
  
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  Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
There has been brighter ideas than this. by bad+enema · 2004-02-20 05:46 · Score: 5, Insightful

The sense of smell is perhaps the most diverse when it comes to preferences. Just think of all the colognes/perfumes out there that end up delivering the opposite effect. Unless you know exactly what the user likes, giving them a scented email may look creative but runs the risk at the same time of offending the receiver.
Not worst...but how do you sell it? by donutz · 2004-02-20 05:47 · Score: 4, Insightful

I wouldn't call it the worst idea ever, but it does stink of bad business plan. How are you supposed to make money selling these things? Who's going to pay two hundred seventy dollars for the "convenience" of letting someone across the internet burn through the fragrance in a fifty dollar scent cartridge?

What's the target market for this thing?
for advertisements only? by gid · 2004-02-20 05:49 · Score: 2, Insightful

I love how all of their examples uses are things like "it could be used by supermarkets to tempt people with the smell of fresh bread or by holiday companies seeking to stir up images of sun-kissed beaches."

Explain to me why I'd want to use up my $48 dollar stink cartidge (heh) on spam?
Smells like fraudulant claims to me... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 05:53 · Score: 5, Insightful

Why on earth would someone want to pay $250 so that they can smell their spam mail? Come on people, someone answer me that? Furthermore, I am troubled by a quote in the article: Telewest says its "scent dome" could cost around 250 and would only work with a high-speed, broadband connection.. So what they are saying is that the unit can produce up to 60 smells (that's 6 bits of data), and I need a broadband connection to get that data? I don't buy it. (pardon the pun)
1. Re:Smells like fraudulant claims to me... by hackstraw · 2004-02-20 06:11 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why on earth would anyone view images in an email, or blindly open attachments?
  
  *sigh* Why cant email just be email? I've been able to evoke a wide range of emotions with email over the years and I have yet to have used HTML mail, background or any other image, sounds, colors, or smells. I'm surely not going to pay $250 in hardware for this "feature" either.
2. Re:Smells like fraudulant claims to me... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 07:01 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Why cant email just be email? I've been able to evoke a wide range of emotions with email over the years and I have yet to have used HTML mail, background or any other image, sounds, colors, or smells
  
  Allow me to paraphrase:
  Why can't cars just be cars. I have been able to get my car safely and expediently to every place I've needed to go without the need for fancy automatic transmissions, CD-changers, cupholders, or cheesy tail fins.
  
  And there you have it. So get used to it - plaintext probably won't die a painful death, but it will someday only be used by "enthusiasts".
Re:Why are the Brits doing this? by gwernol · 2004-02-20 05:54 · Score: 1, Insightful

Eh, this is really outside their area of expertise. They should pass this problem off to the French and instead work on making email flavorless and rubbery.

I was going to point out that British food is really pretty good, and its poor reputation stems from the very low quality of ingredients and food shortages suffered during the second World War and for decades afterwards. But man, that's a funny, funny email, so I think I'll just sit here and LMAO instead.

Thanks, that really brightened my day.

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Sailing over the event horizon
wtf? serial port only? by killbill! · 2004-02-20 05:58 · Score: 2, Insightful

A 20-channel serial port device costs $269

Apart from the horrendous price tag and the questionable need for suche a device...

... what the hell were they thinking, using legacy ports only? It's not like aiming at an ever shrinking customer base (laptops or Macs come to mind as machines w/o legacy ports) was bad business... ;p
Re:picture in the article by Jackazz · 2004-02-20 05:59 · Score: 2, Insightful

Also: "Telewest says its "scent dome" could cost around 250 and would only work with a high-speed, broadband connection." -- WTF? The device produces only 60 smells - so is 6 bits now too big to send over a slow modem?
I think it probably only works on a TELEWEST broadband connection....in other words, you have to use their service to get the smells. So it really has nothing to do with bandwidth i bet.
I think you're missing the point by howlinmonkey · 2004-02-20 06:11 · Score: 2, Insightful

Imagine broadband providers requiring you to have one of these to access their service. You don't pay for it up front, they just charge you $5/month to have it, like they do with modems now. Cartridges are provided dirt cheap. Then broadband providers sell access to their customers to spammers, who pay a little bit per message to get to the broadband customers with enhanced stinky email. Providers start raking in big bucks. You become another commodity they can sell to increase profits.

We know the whole system
1. Hook customers on your service
2. Sell them out for advertising
3. Profit
Re:I am horrified to.. by cayenne8 · 2004-02-20 06:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

It would, however, be great for cooking/recipe sites. Or hell....would be great for FoodTV..

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Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........