Electronics Manufacturing News

This battery-powered product can be worn as a pendant or carried on a keychain, and it's shaped like a small cigarette, so you can fidget with it while you're quitting smoking.

It's simple to use, and the logic is dead on. To use the Linkman, you double-click a clear button on one end to request permission to smoke. If you haven't waited long enough between cigarettes (10 minutes to start), this button blinks red, letting you know to fight the urge to smoke for a little while longer. There is no penalty for asking too early – the device simply says “not yet” with short red flashes.

If you double-click the button after waiting long enough, you get a solid green light. This is the device's way of granting you permission to smoke one cigarette. For each cigarette, this cycle repeats with a slightly longer waiting period. In this way, the device weans you gradually and systematically, allowing you to quit smoking within a few months of use.

“It was the only way for me to quit,” says JB Snyder, inventor. “I had tried everything. Nicotine gum kept me addicted to nicotine, and 'cold turkey' had me irritable even after 10 months. I was impossible to be around, so I started smoking again. Not so with the Linkman.”
"Of course it can't make you quit," says Snyder. "But if you want to quit, smoking cessation devices can help you fight your addiction like no other products can."

Made in the U.S.A. and patent-pending, the Linkman can be purchased on the World Wide Web at www.linkman.com. Price: $80. For more information, contact Brady Development, Inc. at PO Box 1465, Avon, CT 06001. Phone (860) 460-7289; Fax (309) 419-6494.