Prompt Cast
The Rise and Fall of iSmell: The Failed Attempt to Bring Smell to the Internet
TLDR DigiSense's iSmell device, which allowed users to experience digital scents, failed to gain popularity despite its revolutionary design and efficiency, ultimately being included on PC World's list of the 25 worst tech products of all time.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The podcast hosts discuss their decision to consolidate the Short Stuff episodes into the main feed and then introduce the topic of "iSmell."
02:02
iSmell was a peripheral device that you would plug into your computer via USB and it would release a scent that matched the website you were browsing.
04:10
DigiSense, a company formed by Joel Bellenson and Dexter Smith, received $20 million in venture capital and was based on their experience with genetics databases and the realization that organic things like DNA can be coded.
06:29
DigiSense created the world's first database of digitized scents, allowing users to create a digital model of an odorant and experience the smell without it being from earth or nature.
08:32
DigiSense learned how to combine their 128 primary odorants in order to create any smell a user wanted to experience digitally.
11:06
The iSmell device used a pallet of 128 primary odorants to create billions of different scents, but the creators failed to consider if people actually wanted to smell the internet.
13:09
The iSmell device debuted at the 2001 CES Consumer Electronics Show, but despite its revolutionary design and efficiency, it failed to gain any popularity and was included on PC World's list of the 25 worst tech products of all time.
Categories:
Society & Culture
