To James Monsees and Adam Bowen, the biggest problem with the smoking industry is that it stopped innovating 50 years ago. And the two San Francisco entrepreneurs have set out to get that innovation engine moving again.

Monsees and Bowen, who were classmates at Stanford’s design school, worked on a master’s thesis together about smoking and in their research, discovered that many smokers love the ritual and the social elements of having a cigarette, but hate the fact that doing so often bothers people and is known to be unhealthy. With their degrees in hand, the two decided to build a product around helping people maximize those positives and minimize those negatives.

That was four years ago. Now, their company, Ploom, has just released its first product, the Model One. A vaporizer built around patent-pending technology that heats tobacco to a temperature that releases its flavor but which doesn’t burn it, the $40 Model One is intended to be a white-gloved slap to the face of the traditional cigarette and the companies that make them.

Full story: Stanford grads hope to change smoking forever | Geek Gestalt – CNET News