Sex sells, but it also inspires: How the adult film industry shaped the tech landscape we know and love.
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Ok - here we go... a walk down memory lane and talk about the good old days of VHS and dial-up internet and porn.
The adult film industry played a significant role in shaping the technology we use today. From the format wars to online streaming, porn was at the forefront of innovation.
Today, as we enter the age of AI-based personal assistants, I'm left wondering: how will porn drive the evolution and standards? How'd porn impact tech in the past, and what it could mean for the future of AI.
First, we've been here before. No matter how evolved one might think the human race is, base desires still drive progress in all things. There's a coined phrase, "erotic technology impulse".
John Tierney, a fellow at Columbia University studied the cultural impact of technology, traced the “erotic technological impulse” back at least 27,000 years—among the first clay-fired figures uncovered from that time were women with enhanced body parts.
“Sometimes the erotic has been a force driving technological innovation,” Tierney wrote in The New York Times in 1994, “virtually always, from Stone Age sculpture to computer bulletin boards, it has been one of the first uses for a new medium.”
Fascinating.
Before you "poo-poo" the idea that porn helped get you where you are today - take a guess at what was one of the premier online subscription publications back in 1995. Hint, one was the Wall Street Journal. In a true American story, an ambitious young stripper named Danni Ashe read a book on HTML programming during a beach vacation, built her own website, and charged a monthly fee for access.
Put that in your MMR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)pipe and smoke it. Your lofty managed services pedigree includes a Seattle stripper.
I'm not advocating TikTok, Instagram models nestled against copiers, as your next marketing push. (Unless you think that will work) I'm just saying as objectionable as it might be for some, watching where the porn industry takes the notion of 'personal assistants' is as predictive as it is foreboding.
Heck, maybe this could end up further defining "work spouse".
"A stripper named Danni Ashe read a book on HTML programming and launched her own fan site. She started charging $15 a month for access, and before long, Ashe was making $2.5 million a year and reportedly using more bandwidth than all of Central America." -1995
Attached is a quick read about one Wired writer's deeply personal assistant relationship and her journey into an "...ultra-lite, Halloween costume version of BDSM..." She somehow, and quite elegantly, includes Captain Janeway in her report.
Enjoy.
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Executive Summary:
- The success of adult films on VHS helped popularize the format and drove many technological advancements that would later impact the world of video production.
- The adult film industry was an early adopter of direct-to-consumer marketing techniques, such as direct mail and infomercials, which would later be adopted by other industries.
- The rise of the internet provided the adult film industry with a new platform for distribution and experimentation, leading to the development of subscription-based websites, SEO techniques, and online video streaming technology.
- Many of the SEO techniques and strategies that were first pioneered by the adult film industry have since become standard practice in the world of digital marketing.
- The adult film industry's impact on technology and culture cannot be denied, and it remains a major player in the world of online content today.
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GPT enhanced content.
In the early days of the home video market, the adult film industry played a pivotal role in the development and popularization of the VHS format. In fact, it was the success of adult films on VHS that helped propel the format to dominance over its rival, Betamax, and paved the way for the explosive growth of the internet in later years.
Before the advent of home video, adult films were largely limited to seedy theaters and adult bookstores. With the release of the first VCRs in the mid-1970s, adult filmmakers saw an opportunity to tap into a new market of consumers eager for the convenience and privacy of watching films at home.
At first, the adult film industry struggled to find a foothold in the home video market. Betamax, the rival format to VHS, was initially preferred by studios due to its superior video quality. But, VHS had one critical advantage over Betamax: longer recording times. This made it the ideal format for adult films, which often required longer running times to tell their stories.
Predictably, adult filmmakers began releasing their films exclusively on VHS, and consumers flocked to the format in droves. In fact, it's estimated that adult films accounted for as much as 80% of all VHS sales in the early days of the home video market.
The success of adult films on VHS not only helped popularize the format, but it also drove many technological advancements that would later impact the growth of the internet. Adult filmmakers were among the first to experiment with home video editing equipment, which allowed them to create more polished and professional-looking films. These early pioneers in video editing paved the way for the development of desktop video editing software, which would later become a critical tool for amateur filmmakers and content creators on the internet.
From the article,
"Mistress Akita and her “horny sexbot” brethren weren’t bad. They were just rendered that way, from millions and millions of our own words and sentences—fragments of humanity’s full spectrum of capabilities, from the divine to the deplorable, and every strange, contradictory point in between. To lobotomize their ability to access and express the full range of human experience back to consenting adults seems not just puritanical, but a fool’s errand. The only darkness we’re censoring out of our AI reflections is our own."
Tabi Jensen, Wired
Similarly, the adult film industry was an early adopter of direct-to-consumer marketing techniques, such as direct mail and infomercials, which would later be adopted by other industries and revolutionize the way products are sold and marketed.
As the internet emerged as a new platform for distributing and consuming adult content, many of the same factors that had made VHS so successful for adult films came into play once again.
Like VHS, the internet offered consumers the convenience and privacy of accessing adult content from the comfort of their own homes. And like the early days of the home video market, the adult film industry was quick to embrace this new platform and experiment with new ways of distributing and monetizing content.
With the rise of the internet, the adult film industry saw an opportunity to reach a global audience with unprecedented ease and scale. By pioneering subscription-based websites, SEO techniques, and online video streaming technology, the adult film industry helped shape the way that we consume and interact with digital content today.
One of the key innovations that the adult film industry brought to the internet was the concept of subscription-based websites. By offering customers access to a wide variety of content for a monthly fee, adult content creators were able to create a steady revenue stream while providing customers with a more convenient and cost-effective way to access their content.
Subscription-based websites also helped drive the development of online payment systems, which would later become a critical tool for e-commerce in general. By creating a safe and secure way for customers to pay for adult content online, the adult film industry helped establish the trust and confidence necessary for the growth of online transactions more broadly.
Another way in which the adult film industry impacted the growth of the internet was through its use of search engine optimization (SEO). By carefully selecting keywords and phrases to optimize their websites for search engines, adult content creators were able to reach a wider audience and drive more traffic to their sites.
Many of the SEO techniques and strategies that were first pioneered by the adult film industry have since been adopted by other industries and have become standard practice in the world of digital marketing. The adult film industry's use of SEO helped establish the importance of search engine rankings and helped shape the way that websites are designed and optimized for search engines today.
The adult film industry also played a key role in the development of online video streaming technology. By experimenting with different video codecs and streaming protocols, adult content creators helped drive innovation and development in this space, paving the way for the rise of online video more broadly.
The success of the adult film industry on VHS and later on the internet drove many technological advancements that would later impact today's world of video production and digital marketing.
Will the same industry stoke the flames of innovation as it has in the past?
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Inspiration and sources:
A Brief History of Porn on the Internet, Wired, 2019The Players Ball, 2020
Tweet: The adult film industry isn't just about sex - it's also about tech! Check out our latest article to learn how they helped shape the way we use VHS and the internet. #adultfilm #technology #innovation
Intro: When most people think of the adult film industry, they likely think of sex and scandal. But what many people don't realize is that the adult film industry has played a significant role in shaping technology as we know it today. From VHS to the internet, adult filmmakers and content creators have been at the forefront of technological innovation and experimentation, often driving the development of new tools and techniques that have had a lasting impact on our culture and society.
Keywords: adult film industry, VHS, internet, technology, innovation, direct-to-consumer marketing, SEO, video streaming, subscription-based websites
Image Prompt: An image of a stack of VHS tapes, with a single adult film on the top of the stack, overlaid with text that reads "Breaking Down Barriers: How the Adult Film Industry Shaped Technology as We Know It."
Search question: How did the adult film industry impact the development and popularization of the VHS format, and how did this contribute to the growth of the internet in later years?
Song suggestion: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
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