More Videos
- iPhone, App Strategy the 'New Dot Com?'
- Cisco Jumps; Rest of Market to Follow?
- Call It 'Microsoft Math'
- Intel in the Anti-Trust Crosshairs, but Why?
- Apple Apps—Now More Than 100K
- WoW Fights New Front in China
- Smart Phone Competition Heats Up. Again.
- A Tale of Two Smart Phone Makers
- Avatar Hype Soars Thanks to Tech
- AMD's Ruiz Gets Tripped by Idle Chit-Chat
MOST SHARED
- Future of Marketing
- Dow Up Over 100 After G20 Stimulus Pledge
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Oil Tomorrow
- Dow Industrials at New Highs—But Other Indices Lag
- Obama Says Will Raise Currency Issue with China
- Priceline Crushes Profit Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Trial of Ex-Bear Stearns Managers Goes to Jury
- A Year on, China's Stimulus Postpones its Problems
- Why Google is Paying $750 Million for Ad Mob
- Warren Buffett to Sell Stakes In Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern
- Nov. 9: Unusual Volume Leaders
- The Battered Businesses Behind Housing
- Modern Warfare 2's Record-Breaking Launch
- Merck’s Mega-Monday Morning
- Why are Traders Bullish on This Food Company?
- Profiting From Natural Gas: Strategists
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- European Commission Objects to Sun Micro-Oracle Deal
- Obama Says Will Raise Currency Issue with China
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Buffett to Sell Stakes in Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific
- Cramer: 5 Stocks to Play the Next Bull Run
- Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- Electronic Arts Beats Street, Announces 1,500 Job Cuts
- Time Is Here to Look at Overseas Stocks: Bill Gross
- Home Prices Start to Stabilize In the US as Sales Pick Up
RSS FEED
Tech Check
Text Size 
 |
I was ready to file a few more times from the Consumer Electronics Show today and then fly home, when my assignment suddenly changed last night. I didn't want to go because I was tired, the adult show is over the top, and I didn't see much of a story there. Wow, I was wrong.
The porn industry--they prefer "adult entertainment"--is a $12 billion annual business by some estimates. And it has been quite the catalyst for all kinds of tech development. It's no accident this expo is in the same town, at the same time, as CES. These two industries have walked hand in hand since the VCR.
But this year, the 10th anniversary of the expo, technology transition is once again gripping the industry. High Definition TVs and DVDs, the net, mobile. It's all coming together at once, and with change comes opportunity. And challenge.
And 300 companies and 30,000 attendees want to see what happens next.
John Stagliano, Evil Angel Video's founder, a former performer, a pioneer in so-called Gonzo porn, tells me today, "I hate to say this, but In my old age here, I never thought I'd have to continue to learn new stuff but I have to in order to compete."
Sex sells, the old saying goes, but he says the business is "still growing and it's growing faster than ever before because of new technology."
New technology also poses new problems. Vivid Entertainment, the industry's biggest player, is suing Porno-tube in a kind of Viacom vs. YouTube/Google piracy case that the entire industry is watching.
High-definition has been a novel selling point for video producers, making for better looking productions, and, how shall I say this delicately, a new level of interactivity on HD DVD and Blu-ray disks.
It's something porn actress Jesse Jane tells me she loves: "I like HD, it's more realistic... It's a perfect picture. It's a crazy picture it's real." But it also offers unprecedented detail which could limit the shelf-life of her career. Something she's very sensitive about, but something superstar porn actress Tera Patrick isn't concerned with. "My career has lasted 10 years and I think it will last 10 more years, so I don't think it will affect me," she says to me.
 |
Mobile porn is also gaining momentum. Jupiter Media projects this sector will generate $3.5 billion in revenue by 2011 thanks to bigger and better mobile screens and smart phones, particularly Apple's iPhone, and the now aptly named iPod Touch.
Says Pink Visual President Allison Vivas, "You joke that it was built pretty much for porn."
The industry is a fascinating one. Titillating, sure, but make no mistake: There are a lot of bright people on both the tech, production, distribution and performance sides of this business. And it's very much a business embracing the change and transition.
I didn't want to go. But I'm glad I did. And for all the right reasons.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes