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Online Porn - The Technology Testbed?
DaveAtFraud writes "USA Today is running a only slightly tongue-in-cheek article pointing out that the on-line porn industry has become the technology testbed for innovative content delivery. On-line delivery of 'adult' content has been wrestling with issues such as digital rights management, video on-demand billing, wireless services, and geo-location software since long before these became issues for 'mainstream' content providers. Maybe having an adult content provider listed on your geek resume isn't so bad after all."
I always hear about how amazingly profitable the porn industry is. My question is who pays for all this porn when there is more than enough free stuff out there to meet anyone's needs. Just my observation...
Saw an interesting feature on a Dateline-type TV news show for my Cyberlaw class. It said that pornography has driven not only the Internet (streaming video, credit card verification, broadband, etc.), but also technologies like the VCR (instead of going to the sleazy adult theatre, you can watch skin flicks in your own home) and even cable television. It was said that the number of adult movie screens in this country (indeed, around the world) has gone up exponentially since the introduction of the VCR, and it hasn't decreased since. It takes away the need for people to go out and buy porn in a semi-public fashion.
Just think, if it weren't for our baser instincts, we'd never have advanced as far technologically as we have. Who knows what the future holds...
www.tealeaves.org "All you need is love." -
...in college who did his doctoral o this exact subject. He later went on to work for ABC television. His basic gist was that it's the porn industry that actually works out the practical logistics of any new medium. At the time he was talking about the porn industry building the VHS video industry. A lot of movie studios were reluctant to put movies on VHS since they feared it would destroy their industry. But the porno business had nothing to lose as they were relegated to booths and shady theaters. So... they put ALL of their movies out on VHS. All those people out there who would NEVER be caught dead in a porno movie house or booth suddenly had access in their own living rooms and [BAM!!!] a new empire was born. Too bad porno movies soundtracks are so bad, otherwise the porno industry would probably have the online music distribution down pat in a short time.
Un-news
When the web started, these were the folks who mostly implemented the whole credit card/password access thing. They "stretched" graphics, streaming (uh huh huh) video, audio, and any other multimedia applications out there.
They've gone after the broadband crowd long before everyone else relied on it, and in a sense, continue to push the whole Internet-based "entertainment" stuff. Yeah, they innovate, can't deny that. They've always been in the fringe -- and everyone else just kinda looks on to see what does and doesn't work.
Hmmm, maybe they're the "military" of the Internet -- the technology gets designed for their purposes first, then once it's tested, goes on to find applications for the general public.
This means that the adult entertainment industry and other fast-paced private industries have supplanted the military as a driver for leading-edge tech. The long procurement cycles for weapons and government programs mean that they use older tech. In fact, it is a real problem for vendors because the government wants specs on stuff to be delivered in 18-24 months (its hard to spec a PC 2 years in advance).
Although the military will always be the driver for some technologies, commerical enterprise, with its much faster innovation cycle time, seems to be taking over as the key driver for innovation.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Okay, I'm also being touch-and-cheek but I think the Rule of Porn mostly works. Can you use Google for porn? Yep, must be a good technology. Can you use faster Internet access for porn? Yep... and so on.
I agree, to an extent. I'm an adult webmaster, and it is an interesting line of work. It's a fairly close-nit community and it does have it's downsides.
When I started out, getting ANYONE to do business with us was next to impossible. Banks wouldn't allow us to open accounts, online merchants wouldn't accept us, etc etc.
It has gotten more "friendly" over the past few years, but it certainly isn't a market I recommend to just anyone. Building user contacts and networking is always hard, but in the adult industry people seem more guarded.
And honestly? The web visitors are always pompous, condescending assholes if you don't provide them with what they want, when they want it. I must get 50 emails a day with complaints about various miniscule bullshit.
I still wouldn't trade it for the world though. :)
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
How does one become an adult webmaster
There are a couple of ways to do it. The first method involves having a very willing girlfriend that has a lot of friends who aren't afraid to take their clothes off. If you date a stripper or a wanna-be porn starlet, you're set.
The second method is more difficult now, but basically, find a niche and fill it. Unfortunately, most of the common fetishes (big breasts, asians, lesbian, blonds, etc.) are already represented by some very well-established sites, so what you're left with is catering to the Fat Asian Foot-Fetishists out there. Not very enjoyable work, and hard-as-hell to get content.
Personally, I worked with a photographer for a few years, and we did a number of shoots for strippers who wanted to become models. The problem is, most strippers simply don't have the right looks or height to be a model. But we would shoot them regardless, since they paid our bills.
We decided to offer free publicity shots (since we kept the publishing rights), and word got around. Mind you, Joe Photo won't be able to pull this off. The key to being a successful photographer is looking like a successful photographer: plenty of strobes, lots of tripods hanging on the walls, a proper studio, tearsheets casually tossed about, etc.. The photog I worked with probably had a hundred grand invested in equipment.
The nice thing about strippers is that they tend to be a bit crazy to begin with, and if you're reasonably cool they won't have a problem doing crazy shit in front of a camera. In their minds, it beats having to ass-grind some fat slob at a club any day of the week.
This can get expensive, however, depending on location. Which is the next point: go where the talent is. We worked on the East Coast, and there's just not a lot of girls going into porn over here. And the strippers? Well, your standards tend to drop when you have a real-flesh-and-blood girl dancing for you, but for an online audience the bar is raised considerably. Your girls either better be extremely attractive, have enormous breasts, or be willing to do some pretty extreme stuff if you're going to keep up with the competition.
So, if you really want to be a PornGod, here's my advice. First, move to L.A. -- there's a lot more "talent" (ha!) to be had for a lot less dough. Learn some basic studio photography, then shell out a couple grand for a prosumer digital camera and some strobes. Rent a studio someplace that's easy to get to by public transportation (bus, train, whatever). Or, make friends with a photographer that's already established and shares your enthusiasm for naked chicks and doesn't mind ruining his professional career (i.e., his day job). That's not to say that your name will get dragged through the mud if you go into porn, but it's a risk.
Once you've got that, set up a website with a host that won't boot you for hosting porn. Set up your site, plan what kind of market you're aiming at, and start filling it with stuff you find on USENET. Yes, it's not really legal, but if there's no (c) on the picture, and you're still small-time, you can consider it fair game. Now comes the fun part...
Head down to your local strip club. You're not going for a lap dance, so try and be professional and curteous. Really look at the girls -- don't just oggle their nakedness. If you don't see anyone that catches your eye, move on to the next place. Try to remain as objective as you can (it gets easier the more you do it). If you find a couple of girls you like, approach them after a routine when they're walking around the club. Tell them your name, what you would like to use them for, and hand them a business card. Look at her eyes, not her tits, and you're more likely to be taken seriously. Tell them how much you're paying for a shoot, and ask them to pass along the information to anyone they think might be interested.
Don't engage them in a long conversation, since they're technically on the clock and y