Many regular smokers today are finally waking up to the long term damage caused by smoking, and they're starting to find alternatives that can offer a similar sensation to cigarettes, without all of the social stigma, and without the harmful health effects.

An alternative that is starting to gain traction is an electronic cigarette, which was invented in in China in 2004, by Hon Lik of the Ruyan company.

Ruyan was the leader in the market for electronic cigarettes, and produced the appropriately named Ecigarette, which became the name associated with this type of device.

The main purpose of this product was not to offer a total replacement to smoking, but rather a device that smokers could use when they were in an area where regular smoking wasn't allowed. Today, this device is being used by many smokers full-time as a total substitute for smoking cigarettes.

The Ruyan electronic cigarette is sold all over the U.S. And around the globe, and many who use them say that they are still one of the best around, although there is newer technology that most people agree performs better now.

The original e-cigarette used ultrasonic technology, but today, many of the electronic cigarettes on the marketplace are using a design that has a heating element called an "atomizer", instead of using ultrasonic equipment.

In late 2008, the older 3 piece devices with atomizers in the middle, began to be replaced by the newer and better performing units, with a 2 piece design, using a new atomizer that users replaced with each new cartridge. The quality of these two piece electric cigarettes was much better, and in early 2009, countless numbers of the devices began showing up everywhere, as the old ones began to disappear from sight.

The heating element is the piece that turns the nicotine liquid into vapr, or steam, giving the user a similar sensation that they would get from ingesting tobacco the customary way, by inhaling a burning cigarette.

Another benefit of using an electronic cigarette is that you can use them without having to listen to the whining complaints of non smokers around you.

The electronic cigarettes in use today also come in wide assortment of flavors - from customary tobacco flavor, to menthol, vanilla, strawberry, and several more, with new ones coming out all the time. They also come in four different nicotine strengths too.

Many regular smokers find that they get completely used to electric cigarettes, since they not only minimize the negative health effects of smoking regular cigarettes, but they also don't emit the second hand pollutants that non-smokers tend to complain about so much.

E-cigarettes give smokers the same feeling of oral enjoyment that comes from their customary bad habit of smoking, along with the same tactile feel in their hands too, all without anywhere near the amount of carcinogens and poisons going into their body. If you're thinking of finding a healthier option to smoking tobacco products, then these electric cigarettes could be just what you've been looking for.