I was in Dallas last week and attended a house party that had several people using these devices. I asked a guy straight up what the point was, and I was surprised to learn that he had successfully used the vaporizer as an aid to quit smoking. He told me that he could specifically control the amount of nicotine in the vapor when he ordered his refills and just cut back by a few percent every 2 weeks. Just like the patch, he was able to taper off the nicotine levels in a controlled and painless fashion. I then said, cool, but why are you still using it then? He claimed that he still enjoyed the "practice" or ritual of smoking. He just felt more comfortable talking to people when he had something in his hand to fiddle with. I am pretty sure what he meant to say was that he felt cooler while using it.
I would also say I am in the "I don't care" camp as I couldn't smell anything. There are dozens of flavours to choose from, so maybe certain ones smell worse than others? I bet it would get quite humid in a room if enough people were using them though.