iQOS is a trademark of Philip Morris International, one of the world's largest tobacco manufacturers.Today it is a huge business that involves billions of consumers around the world.And this business is also undergoing a transformation like any other.In 2014, the company announced plans to enter the e-cigarette market, but did so in its own way.Over 10 years, the company has invested more than $ 2 billion in research, opening in Switzerland (next to the picturesque Lake Neuchâtel) Cube - a huge research center for the study of the so-called "reduced risk products" (RRP or RRP in English).He has his own website with a virtual tour.Part of these studies was the development of proprietary HeatControl technology, as a result of which tobacco does not burn out, but only heats up.The electronically controlled heater acts on tobacco at a temperature of 240-270 degrees Celsius (instead of 900 degrees at which tobacco burns in cigarettes).As a result, the user does not inhale smoke, but an aerosol.This allows the company to claim that when using iQOS, 90-95% less harmful substances are emitted (as usual, not without a disclaimer, compared to a cigarette from studies).Which, of course, does not make smoking safe, but it takes the habit of smoking to a completely different level, with different consumption scenarios.To use iQOS, of course, ordinary cigarettes are not suitable, you need special ones, which the company calls HeatSticks or simply sticks.For simplicity, we will use this terminology.Strictly speaking, iQOS does not need cleaning.Moreover, after every twentieth stick (read - packs), it turns on automatic cleaning of the heating element.What is happening inside the holder at this moment is unknown, because he himself is inside the charger.But any hobby is inevitably associated with some obligatory and regular rituals.It is clear that no one can have already established rituals with such a novelty, so the manufacturer is trying to impose them on users.After a few sticks, the gadget seems clean and fresh, but after longer use, the brushes and brushes offered by the manufacturer will just come in handy.A case two times smaller than the usual kinder surprise is divided into two caps inside which there are brushes.The large cap is designed for cleaning the heating element of the holder, the small cap is for cleaning the protective cap of the holder.For special cases, a dense metal plate is intended, with which you can pick it up and remove unburned tobacco residues.On the iQOS website, we even came across detailed video instructions for any interactions with the gadget, including cleaning.But in the vast majority of cases, you can get rid of the tobacco fibers by blowing hard (hooray - pun!) into the cap of the holder.We agree that the method somehow does not really fit in with the glamorous image of the iQOS target audience, and in a decent society, you probably shouldn’t do this, but you can’t throw out the words from the song.By the way, about the glamor of the audience.iQOS branded salons are called iQOS Space (in our free translation - iQOS space).In Ukraine, there is only one such salon open so far (in fact, in May of this year, the launch of iQOS in our country began with its opening), it is located on Lesia Ukrainka Boulevard 7B, next to the area of ​​​​expensive housing, with tender love and quiet proletarian hatred called Kievans "Pechersk Hills".Bionic-style furniture and cozy tables for a small company.Inside the space there is a conference room, a bar and even a library.In Japan, where iQOS sales began earlier, these iQOS Spaces gained some popularity (although the Japanese, as you know, are a nation in which any idea will always find an army of followers, we were convinced of this after a fan site found in Japan 15 years ago, dedicated to the Soviet film “Kin Dza Dza”) and even in local co-workings, barbershops and other smoothies and falafels, “iQOS Friendly” signs began to appear, which means “you can use iQOS inside.”In Kyiv, by the way, there are already two dozen such establishments.In this salon you can see, try and buy any of iQOS components and accessories.This is also the only place where you can buy not a block of sticks, but only a pack.In all other cases, you need to go to the official website iqos.com.ua.Recently, the iQOS team has launched online payment and delivery by Nova Poshta throughout Ukraine.The main disappointment we experienced with the taste of iQOS tobacco arose more from the fact that we expected to get the taste of an electronic cigarette with all the additives and chemical mixtures due.In fact, iQOS is a completely different ideology.The creators of this technology were not trying to bring another e-cigarette to the market, they were trying, on the contrary, to convey the taste of cigarettes with an aerosol, not smoke.It is scary to imagine how many laboratory experiments had to be carried out in order to change the aggregate state of a substance and at the same time preserve taste sensations.In fact, it turned out to be some kind of analogue of molecular cuisine.Now about the subjective: if a person does not smoke cigarettes, but, for example, prefers a pipe, it will be difficult for him to assess how the taste of iQOS sticks corresponds to the taste and sensations of cigarettes (although we, of course, distinguish the refreshing menthol taste of the Fresh stick from the usual Blue).All you need to know about iQOS is that it's not an electronic cigarette, but a completely new system developed by Philip Morris as an attempt to transform mankind's longstanding habit of smoking cigarettes.In the 21st century, smoking in general and cigarette smoking in particular will change a lot in one way or another.Due to ever-increasing legal restrictions or changes in society, this is no longer so important.And tobacco manufacturers want to be prepared for these changes.iQOS looks like quite a fashionable thing, which is able to attract the attention of a specific audience, for which the image is always important.No one expects that millions of consumers will quit smoking inexpensive brands and buy expensive gadgets within one year.But for a person who regularly smokes something more expensive, this can be quite an interesting replacement.How much the novelty will appeal to consumers - both in our country and around the world, we will find out in the next year or two.The technology itself still looks expensive for the mass consumer, but with an increase in production and entry into other market segments (and there are a lot of them, vipers are, for example, a noticeable and growing audience of smokers), it can really change the world.And the habits of mankind.