 will probably be porn. The reasoning is that porno has driven adoption of every other type of new media (cable, satellite, the Web), so why not handhelds?</p>
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While we see this line of thought to be logical, we also have issues with it. The reason these mediums worked so well for adult content providers was because they were filling holes (no pun intended) left by traditional media. But with the Web, not to mention BitTorrent and Gnutella, there’s really nothing new to do. We currently have access to thousands if not millions of images that cater to each individual fetish, from the mundane to the outlandish (google “furries“, we dare you). What niche will mobile fill?
Of course, we could be jumping the gun. There are techniques and market forces we’ve not yet thought of, so perhaps something entirely new will develop. What think you all? What is the future of mobile porn and, better yet, WTF?
Mobile Adult Content Market to Grow to $3.3bn by 2011, Driven by a Strong European Market and New Products for Casual Users [PR Web Press Release]
Mobile devices are not a “medium” in the same way that the Web is — they are devices for consuming that medium (the Web) from wherever you are. It’s exactly the providers you talk about — those millions of images — that will be accessible from more places.
However, ew. Sticky phone keys.
I think the driving factor behind porn on cable, video, and internet is it made it more private. It made it easy for one to enjoy porn from their own home instead of sitting in a little downtown theater watching people get it on on the big screen while getting a handjob from the stranger next to you. While mobile porn can still be private I don’t see a lot of people going to that, unless they really need to hide it from parents or spouses.
Now I won’t ever want to handle anyone else’s phone…