While for the domestic U.S. market, it appears that the real mobile madness is still a few years off, the tantalizing glimpses of the possibilities that I’ve seen have left me feeling very optimistic about mobile content publishing – including that within the adult entertainment sector.
That being said, Zappu raised some common questions, starting with the most basic: “First who usually uses these services? Mainly kids below 18 years, so do you think there will be any business or good business with mobile porn?”
On that point, mobile device usage seems maximized by the younger generations, but the kids are getting older, the technology getting better and there’s no turning back now. As the demand for a better user experience and more features / service offerings increases, better platforms will make for better opportunities for adult marketers. Also, in the case of cell phones; folks tend to bring them everywhere they go. You can’t get a closer connection to the customer than that.
On a personal note, the “mobile” content that I produce is currently targeted at the Sony PSP, which demographically offers an older and more affluent user base – as well as a beautiful 272x480 screen. Hollywood offers movies for this platform (I have a few) and if they find it a viable enough platform, then so do I. I only mention this as an example of how you have to broaden your definition of “mobile” to extend beyond cell phones alone.
Another point that Zappu made concerned screen sizes: “imagine you are sitting in a hotel and you have the choice to watch a porn movie on the hotel TV, your 17'' notebook or on your mobile phone screen of 6x4cm, what will your choices look like?”
While there’s no doubt that bigger screens provide better viewing experiences, or that most viewers would prefer a better option when one was available; it’s for those times that you are “mobile” and not necessarily sitting in a hotel room – but perhaps visiting friends or family, or in a hotel room, but with friends or family, where a laptop or TV are not available – or their use private enough to be a desirable option.
I don’t want to get into a discussion of every possible self-sexual scenario, but suffice it to say that the times, places, circumstances and level of privacy (or lack of it) surrounding the expression of the public’s desire to masturbate is as limitless as the opportunities available in facilitating this expression. One size does not fit all.
Zappu also opined that “…most of the porn movies are watched at home or in a video cabin. Do you really watch a porn movie at home on your mobile? Or wouldn't it be much more comfortable to watch it on your 33'' flat TV screen or computer?”
Again, he’s right; most viewers would prefer the bigger screen. But what if his wife is watching American Idol on it and the kids are doing their homework on the computer that these responsible parents have placed in the living room to prevent unsupervised surfing? Can’t daddy just nip off to the garage for a quick one, with his dick in one hand and his Palm Pilot in the other? I want to make it easy for him.
Finally, Zappu predicted that “…the future of porn is not within mobile it's in the VOD services for your next set-top box or Media Management Center.” Here he is almost correct: I would put it that one future of porn is indeed “in the VOD services for your next set-top box or Media Management Center” – and you’ll be using your mobile device to extend, not replace, these services.
That’s what I currently think. Now, tell us what you think about all of this by joining the discussion here.