Did the veiwers of the media turn against the entertainment industry when they decided to take a new turn with porn? Why is that porn has become so much more popular than Hollywood entertainment?
I do not think that viewers turned against the market so much in the case of Batemax and VHS, as much as VHS has a significant head start financially due to the revenues created by pornography. I think that it made sense to consumers to use the same media for porn and mainstream film. It certainly would be funny if you walked into a friend’s house and noticed that they had the “porn-only” viewing technology. I certainly think that people were compelled to use the same media for both types of film and that VHS had a very clear advantage by cornering the market starting with porn.
The market for pornography is bigger than the market for mainstream film for many reasons. It is true; the porn industry does about 4 billion dollars more annually than Hollywood. Rentals and cable charges are much greater for pornography than mainstream film; this may be due to the nature of the material. For instance, people are more likely to go out to view a mainstream movie at a movie theater than they are pornography. Adult content is not readily accepted publicly. Also people are more likely to rent than buy pornography, again because it appeals to anonymity. Another reasons for porn’s large market share is demand. Human nature is to be curious and to fantasize, that is one of the reasons that action movies and Sci-Fi adventures are so popular. These genres enable the viewer to experience what is like to be a hero, or encounter an alien. I think it is much the same with porn; it is a means by which people can experience their fantasies in a practical context. Furthermore, porn appeals to basic human nature, where as mainstream film appeals to intellect, social nature, and what may be more sophisticated needs, but the fact remains that sex sells and remains for humans, a very compelling motivator.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245638,00.html
This is an interesting debate, and I actually just read a newer article on the situation. The first pornographic BluRay disc is set to be released this month. Do you feel that porn will have an impact on who wins the "next gen" format war (BluRay vs. HD-DVD), just as it did with VHS vs. DVD?
That’s true, Vivid just released a film on Blue Ray, however, they accomplished this through there own means. You may or may not know that it is very expensive to produce a Blue Ray or HD-DVD, and that there are HD-DVD and Blue Ray manufactuers. “Sony has said that they would not ‘replicate’ adult titles on any format.” So none of their factories will be used to produce Blue Ray pornography (FoxNews). Now that is not to say that Sony or the Blue Ray disc Association has ban the use of Blue Ray technology, they just are not making it easy (inquirer).
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245638,00.html
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37021
This is an interesting topic. If the porn market has market share of videos sold why shouldn't it have the power to steer the video market? It is a legitimate business (maybe ethically wrong). How does the porn industry's infulence compare to other industry leaders like say Microsoft and Dell Computers? How have these companies by their market share power, shaped our technology products?
This is a great question! And the answer is significantly! Porn has driven technology to advance at the insane rate we have seen it grow. Faster internet connections provided by AOL, Cox and other providers allow for video streaming. Yes it is nice that today military wives can see and talk to their husbands in Iraq, and technology is a wonderful thing, but the money associated with the 12.6 billion dollar adult industry is what got it done. Other big names such as “Marriott, General Motors, Exodus, Concentric, Verio, AboceNet, UUNet, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo!, AltaVista, Convad, Pacific Bell, Bell Atlantic, Real Networks, Microsoft, Earthlink and many more provide the software, infrastructure and delivery systems for porn in all its many variations” (Perdue, 2006). Yes, everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Perdue, L. (2006). Eroticabiz: How sex shaped the Internet. In D. D. Waskul ED.), Net.seXXX: Readings on sex, pornography and the Internet (pp. 259-293). New York: Petter Lang.
Do you think consumers will choose to buy a specific medium (HDDVD or Blu ray) based solely on whether adult films are available?
No, I do not think that the choice will be made solely on the availability of adult films. I think that ultimately the format that wins is what will be in most homes in America, and all or most of the films made, of any type will need to conform to that format. If for example Blue Ray becomes the most popular, then that is what will be in most homes and I think that porn will follow suit. Based on the restrictions put in place, mainly by Sony, porn producers will have to jump through some extra hoops to make Blue Ray porn. But it is not impossible. Consumers maybe swayed to buy one format over the other based on what they think the out come of the format war will be. In other words, if I thought that HD-DVD was going to win the war, then it would not be a good investment for me to buy a Blue Ray disk player because in the future Blue Ray films may not be readily available, just like Betamax. There are many things to consider that affect the format war, price to produce a HD DVD verse Blue Ray disk, marketing turn over, alliances made with mainstream film production companies, video game consoles, public perception, who was first to have the technology available, in addition to contracts made with the adult industry and more.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245638,00.html
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37021
