# Olfactory Sensations Without The Pleasure of Being There
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olfactory-sensations-without-the-pleasure-of-being-there/44296
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 6, 2000, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olfactory-sensations-without-the-pleasure-of-being-there/44296 "2000-12-06T12:49:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bawdysurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bawdysurfer)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2000, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olfactory-sensations-without-the-pleasure-of-being-there/44296/1 "2000-12-06T12:49:30Z")
Oh the oft discussed topics surrounding the old schnozzola. Memories of associations surrounding a particular:[ul][li]stench[_]odor[_]aroma[_]bouquet[_]fragrance[/ul]You know, items like plug-in deodorizers, auto fresheners, aerosols, pot pourri.[/li]
The pleasure of a favorite food cooking, or the perfume/colone of a current or past partner.
All of the sometimes whelming aromas from outside such as cut hay, or a dairy farm, or a factory, or the seashore at low tide.
Even the memory of that rather unique smell from the first time you caused an electrically powered device to release some of its limited supply of smoke, or pissed on something hot enough to immediately burn and vaporize the stream.
There is soon to be a [device](http://www.digitalscents.com) on the market that reportedly can simulate many scents that are recognizable to the teeming masses.
> [@](#):
>
> DigiScents Launches Web Development Kit at Fall Internet World
> Oakland, CA - October 16, 2000 - DigiScents, Inc. ([www.digiscents.com](http://www.digiscents.com)), the pioneer of digital scent technology, is announcing that the company will launch its ScentWare™ Web development kit (WDK) at Fall Internet World in New York City this October 25-27 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, Booth #3310. The company’s software development kit (SDK) has already attracted more than 3,000 applicants to its ScentWare Developers Program.
>
> “Digital scent will be added to streaming media, e-mail, online games, e-commerce, and advertising,” states DigiScents CEO, Joel Bellenson. “You’ll be able to watch scented Flash presentations, send scented greeting cards, download aromatherapy tracks, and design your own smells and flavors. Using the ScentWare WDK, developers can easily create unforgettable Web sites.”
>
> The ScentWare WDK features ScentWare ActiveX control, Netscape plug-in, and Flash presentation support.
Intriguing to say the least.
One report has it that the device will be priced in the hundred dollar range. Haven’t found any predictions on what the consumable component might cost to replace. The speculation on how soon and many of the potential developers will become involved is highly varied.[ol]
[li]Will it find a market?..quite likely.[/li][li]Will that market be of the magnitude that the investors hope in the next, say, five years?..my guess is no.[_]Will the company still be in business in ten years?..27% likelihood.(take that you speculators)[_]Will I buy one given the chance?..absophloccinlutely![/ol][/li]
Technology, even when it outwardly seems to be for nothing more than technologies sake, can still be a half-step in some direction.
---
### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2000, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olfactory-sensations-without-the-pleasure-of-being-there/44296/2 "2000-12-06T14:21:13Z")
Oooh, I hope they can re-create the scent of the ocean! Of course, I can buy overwhelmingly sweet “Ocean” scents in candles, Glades Plug-In’s, and Renuzit any time I want, but they bear no resemblence to the _actual_ smell of the ocean.
The closest I ever came to authentically re-creating the smell of the ocean was when I bought a jar of Zand™ at Toys-R-Us. Pour a little Zand™ in a bowl and open up a bottle of Coppertone™ and you’ve got Daytona-Beach-In-A-Bowl. Of course, if you want the _real_ effect, you also have to throw in some stale beer.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2000, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olfactory-sensations-without-the-pleasure-of-being-there/44296/3 "2000-12-07T02:42:37Z")
This is more of a MPSIMSish type of thread, so I’m moving it there.