By TBEC Review [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

User Experience (UX) is not just for apps and websites. Vaping is great because of the degree of control you get over how you use nicotine. It has its own range of user experiences because of its many forms, and with that choice comes personal freedom (for now). 

There are custom mods with intricate settings, fancy vape pens that are their own complete unit but take e-juice, commodity vape pens that take clear canisters of e-juice, tiny e-hookahs with plastic buttons, electronic cigarettes: the list goes on.

If you want to puff and go, the latter options make sense. If you want to be the author of your own vape destiny, controlling every aspect of the experience, mods are definitely the choice to make.

A variety of strengths and an even wider variety of flavors are out there as e-juice to add another layer of personalization, as opposed to a commodity e-cig with two flavor options.

All of which raises the question, why does Bedford Slims sell electronic cigarettes, rather than just juice?

The answer circles back to UX. Sometimes you don’t want to have to pick out the hard drive and the graphics card and screw them in and snap boards together to get your computer. Sometimes you want a machine you buy, bring home, turn on and go to work.

That’s the electronic cigarette. There is no need to research coil types or cry over spilled e-juice. You just screw a cartridge on and start vaping - plug and play. UX doesn’t get much more elegant than that.

Not everyone wants to undertake a high school science project to perfect the way they inhale nicotine. Why bother when you can count on a particular flavor and strength every time from every pull?

Nevertheless, don't just blindly buy an integrated product. Why? Because vaping is all about personal freedom, and telling anyone to shy away from their own choice is to go against that principle.

Mods are like Linux, an open source operating system (OS)—great for deeply knowledgeable users who want to personalize every aspect of their vaping UX. With a higher learning curve and more chances to make dangerous mistakes, however, there are serious drawbacks to going this route.

Electronic cigarettes, on the other hand, are most like a certain smartphone OS, with a UX that is more intuitive and more secure than almost any other. Neither Linux nor expensive smartphones are going anywhere because both serve a purpose; the same may be the case for electronic cigarettes and mods.

If you’re out for a drink, and you want to know an answer quickly, you’re not going to drive home and look it up on your desktop; not anymore, anyway. Your smartphone is going to be what settles this barroom debate. Likewise, if you need to provision a server, you're not going to get the control you need with only a phone.

Regardless, the next time you’re fumbling with coils and batteries and you long for a quick break from your science project, you might want to keep a Bedford Slims vapourette around to get you through the ordeal. Sometimes you need to vape while you’re preparing to vape.

And remember: UX isn’t the only factor to weigh when you make your choice, and neither is customization. When deciding how to vape, the best choice may be all of the above. Otherwise, vaping leaves you with so much freedom (for now) that you’re liable to have an existential crisis. While you do, don’t forget to vape.