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.

20 of 356 comments (clear)

I am horrified to.. by bob670 · 2004-02-20 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

think what the porn industry could do with this?
1. Re:I am horrified to.. by notque · 2004-02-20 05:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  and I'm slightly aroused by what the porn industry could do with this.
  
  --
  http://use.perl.org
2. Re:I am horrified to.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 05:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Think of the new viruses which will exploit this.
  The new and dangerous worm W32.MyCrap.Stnch@mm
3. Re:I am horrified to.. by gid · 2004-02-20 05:52 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Ya, or just hope that no one wishes you a Merry Christmas with a Mr. Hankey.
4. Re:I am horrified to.. by AndroidCat · 2004-02-20 06:11 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It might finally train the clueless to not open every attachment in email. Memories linked to smells are apparently the most persistant. If that doesn't work, then some kind of I/O gadget involving electrodes to body parts might be required.
  
  --
  One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
5. Re:I am horrified to.. by Garg · 2004-02-20 06:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Wife: [sniff sniff] Have you been visiting porn sites again?
  
  Hubby: No dear, I'm cooking salmon tonight.
  
  Garg
  
  --
  Garg
  Alumnus, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
send a fart to microsoft by Anonymous Coward · 2004-02-20 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

Great. Anybody who wants to can send a fart to Microsoft. I can imagine Redmond would very soon start to stink to high heaven.
What smell would you send to Darl?
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 Boing · 2004-02-20 05:53 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  What would it do that anyone would pay $300 for one?
  
  Well, I vaguely remember scientific studies indicating that human memory of scent is much stronger than any other sense, and with better retention. Theoretically, given enough resolution (enough "different" smells), you could odorize threads of messages to be the same, so that when reading new messages on the same topic, the previous content comes to mind more rapidly and accurately.
  Chance of this actually being a practical feature? Slim-to-nonesville, population: None.
2. 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.
3. 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.
Why are the Brits doing this? by American+AC+in+Paris · 2004-02-20 05:45 · Score: 5, Funny

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.
Je blague, mes amis...

--
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
No way. by nate1138 · 2004-02-20 05:46 · Score: 5, Funny

Part of the beauty of email is that I don't _have_ to smell someone to communicate with them. Being as I work in software development, this is a big plus.

--
Where's my lobbyist? Right here.
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.
Makes filtering spam easier. by xC0000005 · 2004-02-20 05:46 · Score: 5, Funny

Porn Spam would have a very specific smell to it. If you could do the same thing with web pages, a lot of people would get in trouble when the wife went sniffing around the computer.

If we could do this with packet level traffic it would give a whole new meaning to a network sniff (Yes sir, I suspected the router because it smelled like the homeless man outside your building.)

--
www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
picture in the article by morcheeba · 2004-02-20 05:50 · Score: 5, Interesting

I love the picture of the "typical user" in the article. She's got a nice portable laptop, plus this huge aroma thing that looks like it's too bulky to fit in any laptop bag. Did she bring the laptop and connect the device in case she got a smelly email? Or did she have to go and get the device when she realized she had gotten a smelly email?

Plus, she's eating - her taste/smell senses are already being used. So, now she's eating musk-perfume-flavored stawberries, and we're expected to believe that this is enjoyable? Pretty picture, yes. But poor marketing.

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?

--
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
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)
Bad email by JediTrainer · 2004-02-20 05:54 · Score: 5, Funny

Great, as if your idiot uncle wasn't bad enough at family get-togethers, you can now look forward to emails that read:

Pull my finger

--

You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
Drug Dome? by Gothmolly · 2004-02-20 05:59 · Score: 5, Funny

How about sending your loved ones a quick hit of LSD, or a tab of e, or maybe the scent of pot for a nice 'contact high' ? The new Drug Dome comes with 20 lab-quality chemical compounds which can be combined to form 60 separate drugs. Co-worker feeling a little anxious about a presentation? Email him a quaalude. Girlfriend not putting out? Send her a couple of tabs of e.

For the record, rumors that the Drug Dome has been hacked to dispense a single blast of all 20 drugs at once are false.

We are currently beta-testing a refillable Drug Dome, using a modified Linux kernel (Methix), the chemicals, their mixtures, and dosages can be completely customized by the end user.

--
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
This would be awesome... by Bluesman · 2004-02-20 06:31 · Score: 5, Funny

...and I'll bet that somebody's already working on an Emacs syntax highlighting mode that produces different smells based on C types.

Mmmmmmm, unsigned ints....

Maybe using string functions without bounds checking could smell really bad. Then you could really sniff out the bugs. Neat!

--
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.