Mr. Estrin! I found this fantastic post in my SPAM folder, which I suppose is a risk one that one takes when one is writing about porn.
I personally don't get porn and don't think I ever will. Sex is not very interesting, unless it is happening to you, but the whole premise of porn is that it is sex that is not happening to you.
That said, this whole issue was FANTASTICALLY INTERESTING! I especially enjoyed the comparison of the trade show today vs. back in the day, and what has changed. I find it a little depressing. Nothing is dangerous anymore. The mainstream has eaten everything.
My favorite line, from our friend Jason: "Well, let me ask you this. Do you know that middlemen fuck everyone over?”
I write about startups IRL, and it is very interesting how often a startup will brag about how it cutting out the middleman when it is actually proposing itself as new middleman. Much like Jason.
I fear the SPAM filter. It's a real barrier to this kind of writing. But thank you for checking your SPAM filter!
I'm really glad you found this story interesting! You're on to something with the idea that nothing is dangerous anymore. I mean, there is still real danger out there, but I take your point about the mainstream eating everything, and while I always thought of it as porn going mainstream, maybe a better way to think about it is that the mainstream has gotten better at co-opting everything, and the process seems to be accelerating.
As for Jason the middleman-killer, it's funny that you mention your job writing about startups. After I left mainstream journalism (which came after porn journalism), I went to work in PR, mostly doing strategy and thought leadership writing for start-up founders in the ad tech space. Almost every comms strategy we ran was somehow predicated on the idea that middlemen were bad news and that our client was somehow disrupting the middlemen without becoming one. Over the years, I began to doubt the premise that all middlemen are inherently bad, and I became certain that all of my clients were one hundred percent focused on becoming middlemen.
I am currently taking a class. It is a bit about innovation and disruption. This middleman talk made me laugh as your dialog with Michael is SPOT ON. A different angle is when true disruption arrives it is imperative for the old guard to complain and moan and try to co-opt the new idea. In the meantime they desperately re-invent because at least some inside see the writing on the wall. Disruptive change is the seeds of rebirth. One way to look at it is not a single original DOW stock from only 100 years ago is still in the list...
Woah, this is a whole world I didn’t know about. I mean, I could have guessed it existed, but never really thought about it. Thanks for this window into the world of porn! My favorite was the “make foreplay great again” T-shirt 😂😂😂
This was awesome. Fiction will always be playing catch-up as long as fictional people and events have to make sense. If I invented a character like Oz, I'd have to busy myself with "Why is he like this?" and "What point am I trying to make by having him be like this?" Here, in the light of him somehow existing and surviving to adulthood, we can simply bask in his Oz-ness.
Epic piece and so many interesting things to discuss. Here are a few:
1. I actually just bought Not Safe for Work (great title) for Kindle and looking forward to diving in. To read more fiction this year I'm going to try more e-books. I know we discussed audiobooks but after rediscovering my love of music I don't want to give that up.
2. I like how Substack often refers to itself as Only Fans for writing. I think about that when I consider the questions: What's my niche? What's my differentiation? And what's my value prop? Unfortunately, as you well know, sex is a lot more profitable than words.
3. Re: VR porn, I'll point to Demolition Man, the most prescient of our dystopian movies. VR sex didn't work in San Angeles, and I doubt it'll ever work in Los Angeles.
4. Getting patents is actually pretty easy. I have a few myself that are totally useless. The real issue is how enforceable they are once the big guys decide you've infringed upon their IP (or decide to steal yours and claim they're the actual inventors). Generally that doesn't end well for the little guy.
Thanks for buying Not Safe for Work! I hope you enjoy it!
I actually cringe a little when Substack makes Only Fans comparisons. Sure, it's a household name, but their tech is meh, and their business leadership skills are nothing to admire. But I understand where Substack is coming from in terms of being seen as a brand that powers the creator economy, so I don't cringe too much at the comparisons. The thing is, I've got this sinking feeling that the adult creator economy is more or less working, in part because there's a lot of money running through the space and in part because there are so many platforms competing for creators. In contrast, the mainstream creator economy looks a lot better than it did a decade ago (not saying much there), but it doesn't look great, probably because there's not enough money in the space, but I'm sure there are other reasons too, and maybe one of those reasons is a relative lack of competition compared to their adult counterparts. What I'm saying, in a really roundabout way, is that I have my doubts about the mainstream creator economy, and what appears to be working in adult isn't necessarily going to be replicated in the mainstream. I hope I'm wrong.
I need to watch Demolition Man again. I don't remember the VR porn. Mostly, I just remember an unhinged Dennis Leary (he's never hinged, tbh) and all the Taco Bell jokes.
You're right about the patents. Here's where I think "Jim" Pensacola is coming from. He doesn't want to enforce his patents, he wants to have a very public patent fight with Apple because the free press will help him sell his novelty product. These kinds of media stunts are really common in adult.
Really interesting. I agree with your take on the creator economy, as I'm skeptical too. The 1K true fans model is great in theory, but in practice it's actually nearly impossible to get 1K people to give you money unless you've got a monster value prop. The other way to say that is it's really difficult to actually find 1K "true" fans. We shall see how the space evolves.
Just realized in Demolition Man it's actually VR sex, not porn, though the lines blur a bit there. It's adopted after a bunch of transmissible diseases are implied to have rocked humanity -- prescient following the pandemic.
Interesting observation regarding the patent fight. Didn't consider that angle.
I love the 1k true fans theory, but I can't tell if it is true, or if I want it to be true. I think you're right, though, that we've seen it work with a monster value prop. To me, Substack does a better job of finding and sorting potential true fans than anything I've ever seen, and it's not even close. But if you zoom out, I don't think we've begun to reckon with two decades of free content. I have no idea if that reckoning will come, but if it doesn't I just don't see there being enough money in the creator space to make it work as promised.
Honestly, I'm little surprised the Tally Wacker didn't get more comments. On the one hand, it's so tied into the wearable tech trend, and on the other hand, it's hilariously weird. I think it's only a matter of time before this marketing savant rules the world.
I love your writing. I’m new to Substack, but I’ve lived in Vegas for 30 years and never attended the Porn convention. So I guess that says something right there. However, I am a small Business owner and I saw so many interesting parallels in your coverage to just “business “ in general these days. And best of all, you made me laugh, and more than once. I’ve already shared with 3 friends Keep up the great writing!
Fun read Michael. Your topics are all over the place / creative. Porn to me means living vicariously through others. Not sure why it is interesting to hear about what skydiving was like or in the last generation watch people's slides of THEIR trips.
"eliminating the middleman" after reading some comments is a fun place to settle on in your elevator speech and actually think you are original :) While they were still emerging as a real and complete disruption of the advertising biz, Ken Auletta wrote a great book "Googled". Probably 15 years old now! My favorite line was when the founders explained their plan to Madison Avenue, a big mover and shaker passed on acquiring a large percentage of Google. He concluded that all of the meals and cajoling were the business of selling advertising and the upstarts were f&$#ing with the magic.
No, she thinks there’s more money in the film / TV rights to Not Safe for Work. I hope she’s right. Otherwise, I’ll be the one exploring a new career as a cam model.
Mr. Estrin! I found this fantastic post in my SPAM folder, which I suppose is a risk one that one takes when one is writing about porn.
I personally don't get porn and don't think I ever will. Sex is not very interesting, unless it is happening to you, but the whole premise of porn is that it is sex that is not happening to you.
That said, this whole issue was FANTASTICALLY INTERESTING! I especially enjoyed the comparison of the trade show today vs. back in the day, and what has changed. I find it a little depressing. Nothing is dangerous anymore. The mainstream has eaten everything.
My favorite line, from our friend Jason: "Well, let me ask you this. Do you know that middlemen fuck everyone over?”
I write about startups IRL, and it is very interesting how often a startup will brag about how it cutting out the middleman when it is actually proposing itself as new middleman. Much like Jason.
I fear the SPAM filter. It's a real barrier to this kind of writing. But thank you for checking your SPAM filter!
I'm really glad you found this story interesting! You're on to something with the idea that nothing is dangerous anymore. I mean, there is still real danger out there, but I take your point about the mainstream eating everything, and while I always thought of it as porn going mainstream, maybe a better way to think about it is that the mainstream has gotten better at co-opting everything, and the process seems to be accelerating.
As for Jason the middleman-killer, it's funny that you mention your job writing about startups. After I left mainstream journalism (which came after porn journalism), I went to work in PR, mostly doing strategy and thought leadership writing for start-up founders in the ad tech space. Almost every comms strategy we ran was somehow predicated on the idea that middlemen were bad news and that our client was somehow disrupting the middlemen without becoming one. Over the years, I began to doubt the premise that all middlemen are inherently bad, and I became certain that all of my clients were one hundred percent focused on becoming middlemen.
The most wonderful thing is that they all actually BELIEVE they are eliminating the middleman!
But you know this...
With enough venture capital you can believe in anything.
I am currently taking a class. It is a bit about innovation and disruption. This middleman talk made me laugh as your dialog with Michael is SPOT ON. A different angle is when true disruption arrives it is imperative for the old guard to complain and moan and try to co-opt the new idea. In the meantime they desperately re-invent because at least some inside see the writing on the wall. Disruptive change is the seeds of rebirth. One way to look at it is not a single original DOW stock from only 100 years ago is still in the list...
middlemen need a union
haha, i think they'd be more of a guild, but yeah, with so many people coming after them, those middlemen better get organized.
Funny. I got this post in my main folder, thankfully I've been able to manually move it to spam.
Woah, this is a whole world I didn’t know about. I mean, I could have guessed it existed, but never really thought about it. Thanks for this window into the world of porn! My favorite was the “make foreplay great again” T-shirt 😂😂😂
I love that t-shirt too! When I saw it, I giggled.
Haven't read anything like this since DFW's Big Red Son. Good stuff.
Thank you, Mark!
This was awesome. Fiction will always be playing catch-up as long as fictional people and events have to make sense. If I invented a character like Oz, I'd have to busy myself with "Why is he like this?" and "What point am I trying to make by having him be like this?" Here, in the light of him somehow existing and surviving to adulthood, we can simply bask in his Oz-ness.
Epic piece and so many interesting things to discuss. Here are a few:
1. I actually just bought Not Safe for Work (great title) for Kindle and looking forward to diving in. To read more fiction this year I'm going to try more e-books. I know we discussed audiobooks but after rediscovering my love of music I don't want to give that up.
2. I like how Substack often refers to itself as Only Fans for writing. I think about that when I consider the questions: What's my niche? What's my differentiation? And what's my value prop? Unfortunately, as you well know, sex is a lot more profitable than words.
3. Re: VR porn, I'll point to Demolition Man, the most prescient of our dystopian movies. VR sex didn't work in San Angeles, and I doubt it'll ever work in Los Angeles.
4. Getting patents is actually pretty easy. I have a few myself that are totally useless. The real issue is how enforceable they are once the big guys decide you've infringed upon their IP (or decide to steal yours and claim they're the actual inventors). Generally that doesn't end well for the little guy.
Looking forward to reading more Smutty!
Thanks for buying Not Safe for Work! I hope you enjoy it!
I actually cringe a little when Substack makes Only Fans comparisons. Sure, it's a household name, but their tech is meh, and their business leadership skills are nothing to admire. But I understand where Substack is coming from in terms of being seen as a brand that powers the creator economy, so I don't cringe too much at the comparisons. The thing is, I've got this sinking feeling that the adult creator economy is more or less working, in part because there's a lot of money running through the space and in part because there are so many platforms competing for creators. In contrast, the mainstream creator economy looks a lot better than it did a decade ago (not saying much there), but it doesn't look great, probably because there's not enough money in the space, but I'm sure there are other reasons too, and maybe one of those reasons is a relative lack of competition compared to their adult counterparts. What I'm saying, in a really roundabout way, is that I have my doubts about the mainstream creator economy, and what appears to be working in adult isn't necessarily going to be replicated in the mainstream. I hope I'm wrong.
I need to watch Demolition Man again. I don't remember the VR porn. Mostly, I just remember an unhinged Dennis Leary (he's never hinged, tbh) and all the Taco Bell jokes.
You're right about the patents. Here's where I think "Jim" Pensacola is coming from. He doesn't want to enforce his patents, he wants to have a very public patent fight with Apple because the free press will help him sell his novelty product. These kinds of media stunts are really common in adult.
Really interesting. I agree with your take on the creator economy, as I'm skeptical too. The 1K true fans model is great in theory, but in practice it's actually nearly impossible to get 1K people to give you money unless you've got a monster value prop. The other way to say that is it's really difficult to actually find 1K "true" fans. We shall see how the space evolves.
Just realized in Demolition Man it's actually VR sex, not porn, though the lines blur a bit there. It's adopted after a bunch of transmissible diseases are implied to have rocked humanity -- prescient following the pandemic.
Interesting observation regarding the patent fight. Didn't consider that angle.
I love the 1k true fans theory, but I can't tell if it is true, or if I want it to be true. I think you're right, though, that we've seen it work with a monster value prop. To me, Substack does a better job of finding and sorting potential true fans than anything I've ever seen, and it's not even close. But if you zoom out, I don't think we've begun to reckon with two decades of free content. I have no idea if that reckoning will come, but if it doesn't I just don't see there being enough money in the creator space to make it work as promised.
I hope the heat was on.
It was on the warm side. But I was wearing pants and shirt, so...
You forgot Pat McGroin.
Thank you for correcting this oversight. I hope Pat McGroin can forgive me.
Really enjoyed this - lol several times garnering lots of stares at the coffee shop.
Glad to hear it! I love it when readers tell me about the looks the get when reading one of my stories in public!
i love everything about this piece, but most of all: Tally Wacker is a genius idea. how many thrusts till you bust?
The creator is a marketing savant walking among us. Plz put him in touch w me asap tysm
Honestly, I'm little surprised the Tally Wacker didn't get more comments. On the one hand, it's so tied into the wearable tech trend, and on the other hand, it's hilariously weird. I think it's only a matter of time before this marketing savant rules the world.
Great post- I felt like I was rambling around that show floor with you. That's what good journalism should do- and you have gained another subscriber.
Thank you & welcome to the party!
Great post! It made me buy your book!
Thank you! Enjoy Not Safe for Work!
Blimey. I've heard of some weird (to me) fetishes, but burping? Well researched and reported. It reminded me of David Foster Wallace's Big Red Son.
Thank you, Terry!
Ummm. Farts in a jar seemed more “normal” to you than burping? 🤣
I think you may have a point there, Kevin 😂
I love your writing. I’m new to Substack, but I’ve lived in Vegas for 30 years and never attended the Porn convention. So I guess that says something right there. However, I am a small Business owner and I saw so many interesting parallels in your coverage to just “business “ in general these days. And best of all, you made me laugh, and more than once. I’ve already shared with 3 friends Keep up the great writing!
Thank you so much! Really appreciate you sharing my work!
what do you think about NFT in adult industry?
I don't know much about NFTs in general.
I don't know if you can see my articles, but we are building a product that helps adult creators create they web3 economy - here it the simple examples -> https://xtok.substack.com/p/how-is-web3-help-adult-content-creators
Fun read Michael. Your topics are all over the place / creative. Porn to me means living vicariously through others. Not sure why it is interesting to hear about what skydiving was like or in the last generation watch people's slides of THEIR trips.
"eliminating the middleman" after reading some comments is a fun place to settle on in your elevator speech and actually think you are original :) While they were still emerging as a real and complete disruption of the advertising biz, Ken Auletta wrote a great book "Googled". Probably 15 years old now! My favorite line was when the founders explained their plan to Madison Avenue, a big mover and shaker passed on acquiring a large percentage of Google. He concluded that all of the meals and cajoling were the business of selling advertising and the upstarts were f&$#ing with the magic.
Now that you're home, has Christina changed her mind and set up a webcam to try to get that 12 grand a month?
No, she thinks there’s more money in the film / TV rights to Not Safe for Work. I hope she’s right. Otherwise, I’ll be the one exploring a new career as a cam model.