The Kinect was intended to be a shot in the arm, extending the Xbox 360's appeal and providing a new platform for games and content that could take it into the future. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Shane Kim once claimed that the Kinect would mean that the Xbox 360 could stay on the market through 2015.
Average Price of a Box of Cigarettes by State: National Average: $5.95: Alabama: $4.74: Alaska: $7.28: Arizona: $6.73: Arkansas: $5.61: California: $5.71: Colorado: $4.93: Connecticut: $8.18: Delaware: $5.47: Washington DC: $7.66: Florida: $5.57: Georgia: $4.49: Hawaii: $9.27: Idaho: $4.79: Illinois: $6.19: Indiana: $5.50: Iowa: $6.15: Kansas: $5.22: Kentucky: $4.52: Louisiana: $4.45: Maine: $6.67: Maryland: $6.32: Massachusetts: $7.75
Cigarettes are cheap in California. Because current cigarette taxes are so low in California, cigarettes are cheaper here than in the US as a whole. According to The Tax Burden on Tobacco (page 182) in 2010 the average pack of cigarettes in California costs $5.374 compared to$5.554 for the US as a whole. The low price in California reflects the tobacco companies' success in keeping taxes in California; total taxes only comprise 35.0% of the price of a pack of cigarettes compared to 44.2% for the US as a whole. Cheap cigarettes promote smoking.