I would say that one way of addressing the wants/needs of vaporizer manufacturers is to look at the most basic differences between the act of vaporizing versus other methods of ingestion...
Vaporizing is:
-more efficient than smoking
-much tastier than smoking
-more discreet than smoking
-more healthy than smoking
-more customizable
-faster than edibles
-less reliant on intensive preparation than edibles and especially concentrates
-more complicated than smoking
-harder to take on the go than smoking
-reliant upon more expensive equipment than smoking
... so really, what vaporizer manufacturers aim to do is to carve out a niche with some combination of advantages versus disadvantages in order to differentiate their product from the others...
Various design constraints obviously mean that there's no perfect vaporizer, and there is unlikely to ever be one, but there are certainly designs which maximize benefits and minimize detriments better than others, especially based on a user's individual tastes.
One fundamental challenge of the design of vaporization equipment is the isolation of the air stream that passes over the herb from the element that generates heat... Pretty much all ways of turning fuel or electricity into heat generate some kind of smell or taste or unhealthy byproduct. The nose is much more sensitive than the tongue, and since we're creating a flavored gas, it's all the more important not to introduce contaminants from the heating system, especially since one of the fundamental benefits of vaporizing is that it tastes so much better, along with, being aimed at the medical field, the goal to cause no harm.
The necessity of isolating the air stream generally means that vapes will either have a long startup time (additional material between heating element and air), or introduce elements into the vapor stream which don't come from the herb being vaporized.
Yet another challenge is that drawing air over a heating element cools the element, so a vape would need either a large thermal mass or a precise electronic controller to maintain an even air temperature well, and that's just hitting the tip of the iceberg as far as vape design goes
Of course, since I designed a vape, i should point out its various strengths and weaknesses:
-all glass airpath means that the vapor taste is one of the cleanest you can experience
-works with a butane torch lighter, so it is as portable as the lighter is, but user experience relies largely on having a decent torch. Heats up quickly (roughly 20 sec) and requires no electricity, so it's easy to get started like smoking a pipe.
-small size means it's easy to take on the go - easily fits into a pocket
-inexpensive since there's no complicated electronics, sensors, or batteries
-more fragile than wood units since it's made entirely of glass. They're tough and pocket safe, but if you drop it onto a concrete floor when it's not in the case, chances are it will at least chip.
-efficient, relatively even extraction of everything in the chamber, since the air flow leading up to it is very turbulent (no cold spots)
-exploits a natural characteristic of glass to change the color of a torch flame at a certain temperature (roughly 1000 degrees F) to signal to the user how hot the vape is, allowing for some customization of the draw. The user can alter the temperature by inhaling quickly or slowly, as well as beginning when the flame first changes color or once the color change is intense, or somewhere in between. The learning curve is sharper than "insert battery and breathe in," but becomes second nature.
-and it works with various forms of water filtration, which can be advantageous for really huge hits, or for tasting different notes of the herbal flavor which can get drowned out when taking vapor dry. Since vaporizing is so efficient anyway, many people can afford to lose a small amount of efficiency in favor of cool, moist and smooth hits.
-lastly, if you're careless you can burn yourself. The glass you just heated to 1000 degrees F is hot.... please be careful and set it down somewhere safe after use, like an ashtray, or into the carrying pouch (which has cotton insides so it won't melt
)
In all, I think my vapes are an advance from what we had before, though I'm certainly not going to give up on innovation... like everyone else, I had to choose a set of goals to shoot for in the design and accept certain drawbacks at the same time. My belief, though, is that they're a great addition to anyone's lineup, since they're tasty, fast, portable, and affordable.
That's just my
of course.
. But I don't know how to design a vape meeting all my wishes 
