Pornography as the Cutting Edge Where Technology Meets Commerce

Steven Horwitz

There's a great CNN.com article today on the role that porn has played in being the "canary in the coalmine" of not just internet technology but communications technology in general.  When new ways of communicating are developed, you can be sure that humans will be happy to pay a premium for their use for sexual purposes.  As the article points out, this was true for movies, the telephone, the VCR (and don't forget that's a big part of why VHS beat out Beta was porn), the DVD and the internet.  And now 3-D!  And of course, sexting.

Like those who paid the big bucks for LCD TVs so the rest of us could get them at reasonable prices, those who were willing to give credit card numbers to porn sites so they could get streaming video of live performers are the pioneers for not just streaming video everywhere on the web, but also the commerce end - using credit cards for payment and keeping databases on user preferences, etc..  Every time someone buys from Disney.com, they have porn sites to thank for developing internet commerce.

Many folks envisioned something like the Internet "way back when," but like most science fiction (one exception being that fine film Demolition Man), they got too caught up in the grandeur of the technology and way underestimated the more mundane ways that the mix of technology and commerce would transform our lives in culturally unpredicable ways.  The Internet and the associated technology are wonderful, but among their most profound effects on human well-being are the ways they have reduced the transaction costs associated with commerce.  

It's but another version of the difference between invention and innovation.  Invention (technology) alone does not lead to wealth.  You need to have economic institutions that can turn inventions into innovations.  Wealth-enhancing innovations = good inventions + markets.  And there's no better example of that than the intersection of the Internet and commerce, and much of that development is due to the pioneering work of pornography producers.  And consumers. 

Come to think of it, this would make a great new chapter for a revised edition of Defending the Undefendable.

And for some of the economics of pornography, check out the work of the guy with the best research gig in academia, our friend Alex Padilla. 

Comments

[Pablo Kuri]

Not all people would agree on Padilla´s findings. I direct you to this article where Sasha Grey, a porn actress, discusses the use of condoms or not in porn:

¨How about if you pick a question you have never been asked and thrill us?

Nobodies ever asked me if I support condom only porn. The answer is YES until the health care system in this industry gets a whole lot better, I think folks in the biz need to wake up it's not just about HIV/AIDS. Also, educate yourselves young porn girls and guys.¨

http://thisrecording.com/sex/2008/4/29/in-which-sasha-grey-is-a-new-kind-of-porn-star.html

Talk is cheap!

[FC]

Is she saying that if STDs will be treated at public expense, she won't mind contracting them?

Talk about private profits and public losses.

[Dave Prychitko]

Best research gig in academia? Really?

[Will Luther]

"the VCR (and don't forget that's a big part of why VHS beat out Beta was porn)"

This is largely a myth.

1. You could get longer porn on the VHS than a similar quality Beta tape. But this supports a more general reason for VHS success: longer videos at same quality (or higher quality at same length).
I think this is trivial, though. Who needs 2 hour porn?!

2. Beta tapes were much better for home recording (among other things, they were easier to edit). And many, many video rings (and subsequent distribution networks) cropped up to (1) share (on a short-term basis) homemade porn with other couples and (2) duplicate these tapes to spread them more widely (beyond your local video ring, and often without the original couple's consent). So even if commercially produced porn was restricted on VHS, the actual quantity of porn available on the Beta standard was probably greater.

[topills.com review]

Government-back-stopped investment banks behaving like hedge funds on the taxpayer dime have given capitalism a pretty bad rep lately.

[true religion outlet]

Have a name suggestion? The contest officially starts now and ends the morning of April 26th, 2010 (that means you have one week to think).