ABC’s Marcus Baram reports,
After two decades of phenomenal growth in profits, the porn industry is facing some major challenges as its X-rated DVDs and Internet content lose out to free videos and photos distributed by amateurs on the Web. Sales and rentals of adult DVDs fell 30 percent in the last two years and sales of Internet-based porn, while still growing, have started to plateau, according to industry estimates.
I’m not sure whether to applaud the collapse of a parasite industry or bemoan the fact that so many “normal” young woman are becoming amateur porn stars. Either way, it’s a revolution in American culture. We’ve certainly come a long way from the days when Lucy and Desi had to be shown sleeping in separate beds, despite being married on both the fictional show and in real life.
Ed Morrissey thinks this just goes to prove the old adage, “no one buys a cow while they get the milk for free.” He also notes that “this mirrors the problems of the traditional media. When everyone can become their own publisher, then content explodes — and potential customers suddenly have a lot of choices, much of it free.”
True that. Still, I’d like to think that there’s some difference between what I’m doing here and things like “Girls Gone Wild,” other than the fact that there’s a much larger market for the latter.
