MovieChat Forums > Middle Men (2010) Discussion > So, the Internet got more popular becaus...

So, the Internet got more popular because of porn?

posted 14 years ago by Dominik528
19 replies | jump to latest

Is that what the story is about? -.-

"My poor, insane son."
- Dib's Father

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[–] chatician 14 years ago

I guess so? I always thought it got popular because of communication and information, guess I was wrong.

I'll bring the BEARDS.

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[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bacci40 14 years ago

technology improved because of porn

it was the porn sites that availed themselves of the streaming vid tech

pushed the makers to improve compression

anyone remember vdo?

the net was also mostly totally unregulated back then....you could see almost anyting...for a buck

it was like times square in the 70s

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[–] camel-wides 13 years ago

that is absolutely correct.
the internet you know and love today, was built from bricks and mortar imagined by the porn industry.
youtube, one of the most popular sites on the internet, would not even remotely exist, if the adult industry had not pioneered streaming media.
the adult industry, because of government rulings, also pioneered the entire concept of credit card billing, and content subscriptions.
most wysiwyg blog's were the offshoot of adult websites desires to have a simple, and easy to use method of providing updates, without needing to hard code each page.

now other people were messing with these things too, even at the same time, but the adult industry has a history of fleshing out tech (that was so not intended to be a pun) in a very thorough manner. as has been said, a large quantity of the tech we take for granted on the internet, was r/d'd through porn...

or, you know, the military.

so to be honest, this movie is about one of the first billing companies, who mastered getting folks to trade money from their credit cards, for online porn.

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[–] princethomas 13 years ago

DVDs too. The Porn industry was a huge backer of the Digital Versatile Disc in its earliest forms in 94 and 95. Menus, chapter select functions, alternate angle selection offered on DVD was a huge plus for the porn industry dying to get away from the linear VHS format. It was only after that that Hollywood Studios took notice of its potential

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[–] martin_fc_86 10 years ago

Also the betamax vs vhs format war. VHS was way easier to use for filming (porn), and i think sony didn't want the betamax to be used for porn, which really killed it.

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[–] princethomas 10 years ago

Cool.

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[–] Scooperfield 11 years ago

I liked how in the movie, they were streaming fullscreen-video in 1997...

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[–] chatician 14 years ago

Kind of sad, isn't it. That a once proud and pure information delivery system and communication device has degraded into cat-based jokes and a means of delivering material for jacking off. What a *beep* ing disgrace.

I'll bring the BEARDS.

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[–] sam-a729 14 years ago

if i wanna talk to someone, ill call them or meet them face to face. if want to jack off, ill go on pornhub.com.

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[–] Eponymous-too 13 years ago

"a once proud and pure information delivery system and communication device"?

I think you're being sarcastic, but I'm not sure. The very first image ever sent between two connected computers in 1969 was a Playboy centerfold. I've seen connected computers since the early 80s and they were pretty much used the way they are today, just without browsing software to make it easier.

"My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs stretching all the way back to the Whale Rider."

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[–] jmclennan 13 years ago

Given the Internet was originally created so the military would still be able to have a network after World War III... I think actually using it for nekkid chicks is a bit of a moral improvement.

Jim M
trashcity.org + girlswithguns.org

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[–] Gordon_Gartrelle 13 years ago

What about telivison.? Same thing.

I apologize for grammatical errors- a side effect of IMDbing on my iPhone.

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[–] C.S.Wood 13 years ago

http://www.cracked.com/article_18888_5-ways-porn-created-modern-world. html

Don't try to cash in love, that check will always bounce.

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[–] dreamonforever1 13 years ago

great article. really puts contemporary (free) human civilisations into perspective...

we should remember "rule 34m," too:

"Rule 34m...
Any new communications medium will be used first to create, distribute and find porn. As soon as a technology is proven to work someone will place a nude girl in it."

"Within minutes of the invention of photography someone was invoking Rule 34m and looking for a prostitute to model. Any new search technology will have "sex" as one of the top search terms within minutes of release."

from the "urban dictionary" (urbandictionary.com)

gregory 82111.

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[–] broncos24 13 years ago

Dominik528 Negitive other way around. Porn got huge because of the internet

This story is not entirlly about porn industry. Just stirves as a backdrop for what actually made people rich which is internet billing. Paying over the internet made it easier and more decreit. Could of made it about retail but that wouldn't be interesting.

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[–] WaltDinLV 13 years ago

No, the movie is NOT about the internet getting more popular because of porn, it is a fictional story about people who made it big on the internet with the porn industry.

However, back in the early days of the internet, or to be more direct, the World Wide Web, Porn was one of the only things that made money. We're talking mid to late 90's. Sites like Amazon and eBay became available, and were popular, but took a LONG time before they made money.

@chatician .. Your comments are SO funny! "popular because of communication and information" Hah! That is truly hilarious! However, your comment, "That a once proud and pure information delivery system and communication device has degraded into ... a means of delivering material for jacking off" makes me think you may actually be serious. I don't recall the internet ever being proud and certainly not pure. If you look at the top searched items, especially from back then, it was always sex, nudes, porn, and nowadays, if it's not that, it's often actresses, usually the young, pretty ones, often times with the words "nude" or "naked" attached to them. That's why sites such as Mr. Skin are and always have been, so popular.

The internet has now become MORE than just a "a means of delivering material for jacking off", to which NOW it can be proud. But back then, mid 90's.. not so much.

Walt D in LV

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[–] skay_baltimore 12 years ago

Yep.

I remember my first computer. I didn't need a computer to do word processing. The draw was the porn. But hey...that's just me.

;o)

(And the whole point of the movie -- the overwhelming success of the first porn sites -- is that while moralists wave their banners of morality in everyone's face, the reality is that porn is present in every country, and has been for a long long time. The internet just made it easily accessible. And saved a lot of trips to the back room of video stores.)

The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The key is to be fearless. R' Nachman of Breslov

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[–] 11 years ago

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