Gamers usurp porn lead as tech innovators, adopters

Now look who's adopting technologies and making them a commercial success

It used to be that Web innovations, or more aptly the adoption and exploitation of technological advances,  were firmly in the hands of the porn industry. If the October 5 announcement of the release of PV API, by adult entertainment studio Pink Visual, is any indicator, however, those days are gone. 

An API announcement from the adult industry is nothing to get overly titillated about these days. After all, it took Pink Visual several years to develop an app (yawn). This is something Web developers have been doing for some time. This observation was first made by Dan Rowinski at ReadWriteWeb. 

That said, it is somewhat surprising that this industry should be so late to the game, given that porn has typically been considered "King" when it comes to technological advances. Doubtless, the porn industry's willingness to implement technological innovations, once positioned it as a key Internet player. Not as developers, mind you. But as early-adopters.

As one scholar poignantly observed about porn: "When new media offer new markets, porn spies them quickly and rushes to fill them, like an amoeba extruding a new pseudopod where its skin is thinnest."

Think of online payments, credit-card processing, and those pesky pop-up ads, and more recently 3-D videos. All adopted early on by the porn industry.  When Penthouse launched the world's first 3D adult television channel in Europe, February 2011, that was truly news. News that may have fogged up your 3-D glasses, but news indeed. 

For Web developers, the lure of the porn industry - if there's any -- is the industry's ability to adopt innovations, and make them a commercial success. Look no further than the format wars, like Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD. But that appeal appears to have faded.

The arrival of Twitter and Facebook, and other social networks giants on the scene, seems to have changed all that. By opening up their APIs to Web developers, and giving them new opportunities to earn revenues, the porn industry is probably no longer enticing to those looking to introduce innovative technologies. 

I would posit that these days, Web innovators and early adopters can be found in the gaming industry, which has opened the path for a more creative usage of the HTML5 language.

Look at gaming companies, such as MocoSpace, and AppMobi.

Both companies are pushing the thresholds of what HTML5 can do. Here's a cool list of what gamers are doing with HTML5.

But they've chosen to do so, not because it's cheaper and they can make a quick buck from it. But because HTML5 is a better technology that works with different operating systems and different manufacturers. HTLM5 is that single unifying technology that works on all of them. 

Apple's early embrace of HTML5 on mobile devices, and specifically the iPad, has also been a big determinating factor behind the adoption of HTML5 by Web developers.  

The porn industry probably woudn't know what to do with HTML5.  The porn industry's sole motivation behind adopting new technologies is the bottom line. And adopting this new programming language probably wouldn't help. 

For Web developers, it is a different end game. My sense is the motivating factor for them is less about how much money they can make, but what's the best experience they can deliver to consumers.  

And that's a refreshing approach. One that you can take home and discuss with your mom at dinner.

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