Willmark:
It is now, the big splash was the porn industry was getting behind HDD rather then Bluray. Consumers hesitated as to which format to buy and sales of either didn’t really take off. Then slowly but surely BR won over and HDD folded.
Kind of a Pyrrhic victory in a way since download on demand is more and more a reality. Now I’m sure it might take years to fully get there.
Cornixt- don’t know about that I can find all the software I need in then some for my job. And in some cases there are better alternatives. Example Filemaker vs Access. The web renders a lt of this moot anyways: almost any app we deploy now is web based if we can help it, and browser neutral at that.
Thommy H:
Re: web based services. I’m always amused when you see commercials on the TV (you may not have them over there…) when they boast that you can “get Facebook on your phone”. It’s like, no: you can get the internet on the phone, and Facebook is a website thereon. I’m aware there are Facebook apps and so on, but I just think it’s so silly that they’re still advertising to a demographic that doesn’t seem to understand that a browser and a connection is not some kind of special software.
GRNDL:
but I just think it's so silly that they're still advertising to a demographic that doesn't seem to understand that a browser and a connection is not some kind of special software.
Thommy H
And you'd be mistaken in that that's what they are advertising. There are specific apps/software for interfacing with those services without the need for a browser, specifically designed for mobile devices. They are not the same as using a browser.
Thommy H:
Then there’s no need for them to even exist - just put a decent browser on the thing. It’s endemic of the same problem: an unwillingness by customers to actually embrace the ubiquity of the internet.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Apple would do well to learn from Betamax, of course: one theory for the VHS victory is that Sony wouldn't license their technology to pornographers, so they all went with VHS, and the rest is history.
thommy H
I don't know if that's 100% true for the demise of Beta (It might have played a part), but there is another reason - Betamax was too expensive for the regular consumer. The cheaper alternative was VHS, and like Henry Ford said, build anything to be more affordable and more people will buy from you rather than the other guys.
Also, Beta was troublesome to repair due to the fact that a Beta VCR only had one read/write head and it had to be aligned 100% perfectly or the machine wouldn't play propperly. VHS was set up like the common tape deck and could easily be fixed by the adverage repairman. (I knew a guy that fixed electronics and he told me all about this stuff.)
At the end of the VCR days, although Beta gave a better picture, VHS cornered the market and Beta became extinct.
Thommy H:
That’s why I said it was just one theory - it’s worth pointing out that the porn industry does tend to parrot this thing about them pushing technology forward and their claims don’t always hold up to scrutiny (surprisingly, some pornographers aren’t completely honest).
Still, it’s anecdotally true. I mean, why do you think all those old masters painted nudes all the time? We have this thing now where there’s a divide between pornography and art but, back before photography, paintings were a good way for rich people to see boobs.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Well, I can’t see how the porn industry is really pushing the technology forward as they aren’t really the ones inventing it.
I understand that they may be the first to use the technology and also the fastest people to put their movie out there, as making a porn movie probably doesn’t take more than 1/2 hour tops, however, first Sony (or whomever) has to do all the develpoing, creating and market research before the pornographers can even get their hands on the Sony camera.
And sure Thommy, I can see where you’re comming from…pardon the pun… even a Jiffy Marker in the hands of some "Dirty Birdy"can push the “Technology” forward. Lord know’s there’s enough “Wang” pictures drawn onto power boxes in High River alone!
I also think people create “porn” just for the “Shock Value” of it. There are two truths to porn - Just as many people like it as are shocked by it.
In the times of the great masters, most people were bound up in chollera collars and heavy garb. The masters painted nudes and it was appreciated because it was another way of looking at people that was not the norm at the time.
Well, even today public nudity is banned in most countries…and in some it’s punishable by death. Having porn is a release to that confine…again, pardon the pun.
Thommy H:
They adopt it, then they flood the market with it. It becomes used by so many people that it becomes mainstream. This is true of streaming video, of online commerce (who do you think had the biggest reason to make credit card transactions over the internet safe?) and of password protection systems, amongst other things. See, all those things are stuff we take for granted now, but porn sites were doing it years before youtube and eBay even existed. The technology gets invented, porn proves it works, everyone enjoys the porn, and then they use the tech for other stuff. Simple.
I also think people create “porn” just for the “Shock Value” of it.
No, they create it because there’s a huge, monstrous, overwhelming demand for it. No one ever went out of business selling pictures of naked women.
In the times of the great masters, most people were bound up in chollera collars and heavy garb. The masters painted nudes and it was appreciated because it was another way of looking at people that was not the norm at the time.
It was for titillation. Same with all those naked statues of Greek and Roman heroes. They were actually painted in lifelike colours when they were first erected (no pun intended…) and people didn’t stand around appreciating the sculpting, if you catch my drift. Like I say, in the modern era, we draw this big distinction between art and pornography, but that didn’t exist historically - they didn’t have photos or movies, so they got their jollies from frescoes and statues and paintings of nudity and sex. I mean, why wouldn’t they?
snowblizz:
Reminds me of what I read in Osprey book about the Italian Wars. The French king Charles the 8th lost his baggage at Fornovo, among it a “pornographic book”. Sort of the mediaeval version of a Playboy.
I’m not entirely certain I buy the “they painted nudes for pornographic reasons” idea fully though. I would have said it was to show of the human body in all its glory. A lot of nude paintings, and sculptures were subsequently censored. But I guess that mostly proves people were always hypocrites.
I’m just thinking that the people who could afford to commission paintings could afford the mistresses/prostitutes to keep themselves “entertained”.
I wouldn’t put it past old horndog painters though to take advantage of the situation to enjoy painting some young nudes.
I would say there was still some distinction between “porn” and “art” in ancient times. Obviously, if such a term can be applied, people were more in touch with the natural side of things. TBH it is really with the introduction of the more “repressive” society e.g. most religions where it becomes relevant with a distinction between art and porn.
Thommy H:
Yeah, we’re lumbered with the Victorian way of looking at the world still. They censored history, and now we’re left with the awful impression that everyone has always been very straight-laced and it’s only since someone invented drugs in the 60s that we’ve been doing all these wicked things that will lead to the downfall of society. Absurd. Human beings have always and will always be obsessed with sex - our closest relatives, the Bonobos, use sex in almost all of their social interactions and we’re exactly the same. We just don’t like to admit it.
Baggronor:
I would have said it was to show of the human body in all its glory. A lot of nude paintings, and sculptures were subsequently censored. But I guess that mostly proves people were always hypocrites.
For some reason, the ladies can't wait to get their kit off when you say, "I'd really like you to sit for me". Truthfully though, when you're painting a nude, or indeed anything else, you actually aren't paying any attention to what the subject looks like from a normal perspective; its just about capturing what is in front of you. It is true that its a great way to get laid though :cheers
Thommy H:
Pfft…like wargamers need help getting laid…
Willmark:
Ok I think this one has definately fallen off the rails. If you want to continue the discussion on art and nudity please make a new thread.
Mind you please keep it clean, not that I think you didn’t do so here…