The Long Tail of Design Obsolescence 

Even today, years and years after smoking on planes was banned in the USA, you can still find yourself flying in a plane with built-in ashtrays.

Subtlety occupying the bottom half of the armrest, they really do not have any major impact on the current flight experience. I wonder though, how long after active use will these ashtrays still be present in planes? I wonder whether the designers considered the post-ban usage.

I admit, I cannot come up with any reasonable alternative use for these ashtrays in today’s plane travel, can you?

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