Lancelot Braithwaite cannot get through my visit without bursting forth a mantra that once served him and thousands of consumers well: “Read the frickin’ instruction manual!” he bellows. “And don’t throw it out unless you’re pretty good at memorizing it!” Never mind that products—from iPhones to Facebook—have made manuals into curious artifacts of a distant era. That era is alive if not well in Braithwaite’s smokey, cramped one-bedroom on West 14th Street.
Before tech product reviewers were brand names, there was Braithwaite, thundering his wisdom and geekery from publications that now exist only in yellowing copies. It was a time when the best critics were so familiar with technical specifications that their knowledge rivaled the engineers who built the products. And none were as omnipresent or as savvy as Braithwaite, who even served on industry standards committees.
Manuals are for sissies.
(Score: 2) by schad on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:09PM (3 children)
No they aren't, or at least they weren't when I was still a smoker.
It's just that none of the equipment they use is sensitive enough to detect them, so it's easy to sneak them through in your carryon or even in your pockets.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:55PM
Iirc they're allowed as long as they don't have anything combustible in them (ie - the lighter is allowed but the lighter fluid in it isn't)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday November 07 2017, @10:33PM (1 child)
I never was a smoker, so I can't be sure. But I seem to recall a documentary "Farenheight 9/11" that pointed out that cigarettes, and I think lighters, were allowed. At least at first. Of course, all domestic flights became non-smoking and thus it was a non issue at some point. But I could be mistaken about the lighters.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 08 2017, @02:41PM
They were allowed at some point. A flight I had about 5 years ago I forgot I had my lighter in my pocket, made it through security with the lighter in the bin, and when putting things back in my pocket realized I had it. I told the TSA agent nearby just in case so I wouldn't be accused of trying to sneak it through and was told it was allowed, so I took it with me.