There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape

A park-find disposable vape with a phone-style USB-C charger and a tiny screen showing battery and “poison juice” levels had the internet yelling, “Why does this thing have more tech than my toothbrush?” After roughly 60,000 puffs, this gadget—complete with an 800 mAh rechargeable battery and a little computer brain—is meant to be tossed. Cue the e‑waste outrage: people couldn’t believe a shiny, cyberpunk nicotine stick gets binned while still packing two circuit boards. Others clapped back with a shrug: some folks treat iPhones like disposables too. One commenter dropped a video, noting battery recycling from vapes is “apparently a thing,” which sparked a whole side quest of DIY salvagers eyeing these devices as free power banks.

Then the drama turned spicy: the vape uses three tiny microphones—yes, microphones—to sense your inhale and mix flavors from different chambers. Jokes exploded about “is my vape listening?” and “Alexa, make it mango.” Hackers tried to sweet-talk the chip via the USB-C pads, hoping it was a hackable ARM (a common tiny processor), but no dice—which only fueled the mystique. The crowd split between laughing at the “poison percentage meter,” mourning the landfill-bound tech, and debating whether the real crime is the throwaway culture or the fact that this slick little gadget resists being hacked.