p.s. "lack of innovation in this space"...I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. From what I understand porn has been driving innovation for a lot of things
Hard to tell without being hip-deep in that world, but the number of players makes it an ultra-competitive market, possibly the most competitive segment of all online business.
And that includes gambling / gaming and so on.
Right now I think the major players in the market have all gone through several boom-bust cycles, and are concentrating on billing and other financials.
Some of the larger ones own their own IPSPs and are facilitating payments for third parties, ironically most of them non-adult. This is to manage the charge-back rates, because historically large adult companies have been literally blown up by taking their banks down.
I used to be fairly close to people working in the adult business, so my knowledge is at least a few years old, the innovation right now is centered more around business models, finance, diversification and other non-technical items.
I think that is in part because all the basic components to run an online business are now well understood and there are plenty of ways to deliver media.
edit: maybe mobile devices will really create a shift, but from what I've seen so far it will be an incremental thing rather than something that just hits one year and will leave the way we interact with online resources unrecognizable from the year before.
I doubt if there will be any major technological development, inside or outside porn until we hit something like 'the street' from Stephensons novels.
The only real development I know of going on in the porn industry right now is 3D. They're all on it. I'm not sure who's doing what with what technology, but I'd look out for some very Idiocracy style pornography in the near future.
That makes complete sense - that competition would be driving innovation, and me not seeing it means that it's on the back-end. The process/model/non-tech stuff rather than the technology.
Vanguard made a piece about porn industry and the what the effects of the internet has on it that had some relevant bits on innovation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LsO5uNVCWI.
One of the porn company's tech guys claimed they were the first to pull of live HD streaming and they had a TV network calling for consultation.
It has been driving innovation in the early days of the web but it is not true anymore. Disclosure: I've been freelancing for several adult companies and personally know some business owners that are in this industry.
Sure, there is innovation in the technology, and adult themed sites to their credit have driven a lot of tech change including arguably the internet itself. But I'm talking about innovation in the space of adult themed web sites. Can you name a single adult themed web site whose approach is innovative for it's target market? (not just the tech)
the only "innovation" that porn has is to slap its considerable content on any "new" technology that comes out. they will unleash their content on any new media. it's like throwing shit on the wall to see what sticks. i don't see the porn industry actually inventing anything new.
Comments
the answer is no.
p.s. "lack of innovation in this space"...I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. From what I understand porn has been driving innovation for a lot of things
> From what I understand porn has been driving innovation for a lot of things
Absolutely. First credit card payments, first (live) video delivery, first affiliate systems and so on.
is that still the case? I heard how porn drives innovation, but I'm not sure I've seen too many examples in the last 4/5 years.
Hard to tell without being hip-deep in that world, but the number of players makes it an ultra-competitive market, possibly the most competitive segment of all online business.
And that includes gambling / gaming and so on.
Right now I think the major players in the market have all gone through several boom-bust cycles, and are concentrating on billing and other financials.
Some of the larger ones own their own IPSPs and are facilitating payments for third parties, ironically most of them non-adult. This is to manage the charge-back rates, because historically large adult companies have been literally blown up by taking their banks down.
I used to be fairly close to people working in the adult business, so my knowledge is at least a few years old, the innovation right now is centered more around business models, finance, diversification and other non-technical items.
I think that is in part because all the basic components to run an online business are now well understood and there are plenty of ways to deliver media.
edit: maybe mobile devices will really create a shift, but from what I've seen so far it will be an incremental thing rather than something that just hits one year and will leave the way we interact with online resources unrecognizable from the year before.
I doubt if there will be any major technological development, inside or outside porn until we hit something like 'the street' from Stephensons novels.
The only real development I know of going on in the porn industry right now is 3D. They're all on it. I'm not sure who's doing what with what technology, but I'd look out for some very Idiocracy style pornography in the near future.
[note: I'm in the adult industry, as many of you found out tonight here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1193169 ]
Ah yes, good point, 3D would be a logical next step.
I completely overlooked that :)
>I doubt if there will be any major technological development, inside or outside porn
I'm not sure if that is the case. (link below is NSFW)
http://gizmodo.com/5129520/realtouch-teledildonics-as-design...
As we're seeing people embedding the web in many other devices, the same is happening in porn.
It's bizarre, but I don't think we've seen the zenith of porn tech yet
Thankyou.
That makes complete sense - that competition would be driving innovation, and me not seeing it means that it's on the back-end. The process/model/non-tech stuff rather than the technology.
Vanguard made a piece about porn industry and the what the effects of the internet has on it that had some relevant bits on innovation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LsO5uNVCWI.
One of the porn company's tech guys claimed they were the first to pull of live HD streaming and they had a TV network calling for consultation.
And the first 3D TV "presentation" in the near future.
It has been driving innovation in the early days of the web but it is not true anymore. Disclosure: I've been freelancing for several adult companies and personally know some business owners that are in this industry.
Sure, there is innovation in the technology, and adult themed sites to their credit have driven a lot of tech change including arguably the internet itself. But I'm talking about innovation in the space of adult themed web sites. Can you name a single adult themed web site whose approach is innovative for it's target market? (not just the tech)
the only "innovation" that porn has is to slap its considerable content on any "new" technology that comes out. they will unleash their content on any new media. it's like throwing shit on the wall to see what sticks. i don't see the porn industry actually inventing anything new.