Ron Jeremy – Internet Pioneer?

Gareth noted in a previous post (below) observing the web’s 15th birthday, that several notable websites – including Hotmail – had been left out of The Guardian’s list of ‘15 websites that changed the world‘.

One thing i couldn’t help noticing – and don’t get the wrong idea here people – is that no adult sites made the list. Are the editors in denial, or just naive?

I read a great article a couple of years back – sorry, damned if i can find the reference – about the role porn has played in emerging media technologies. Super 8, VHS, DVD, the web – all provided consumers with the ‘take home’ alternative to sitting next to Paul Reubens, which is pretty appealing to anyone who’s seen Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. After driving us online, porn really pioneered the affiliate advertising model, and provided an income stream to people with nothing better to do than sit at home and rant – the first wave of bloggers and the beginning of the end for the old media barons.

I could go on, but you get the idea. The web (the world!) would be nothing like it is today without porn. If Larry Flynt had figured out a way to deliver jollies via carrier pigeon, we’d all be in our Lofts right now shoveling pigeon crap into the JunkMail box. Think about that next time you’re in Trafalgar Square.