Last time, I wrote about how Penn students can use porn for academic purposes. But I know a lot of Whartonites were thinking, “Sure, I can use porn to contribute to society. But what can porn do for me, other than giving me a boner?”

Good question. Fortunately for the money-loving cannibals who call JMHH home, porn is a great indicator of economic trends. Ever since Gutenberg invented papyrus, pornography has been at the forefront of new media. Pornography made daguerreotypes successful. Porn helped VHS beat out Beta. And, for a long time, porn was the only thing on the internet making any money. Some experts think that porn will decide whether Blu-ray or HD DVD wins the format war.

The most informative thing about porn right now is probably its shift from downloadable to streaming content. The geniuses in the adult industry know that consumers never pay for anything anymore. Now it’s advertisers who pay per click, per view, or per ejaculation for webhosts to put up their content.

So to make money off the porn industry without taking your clothes off, just follow the trends in porn and invest accordingly. Check out the big broadcasters and see who’s got the right idea. Stay away from any media provider that’s going to ask for your credit card. And stay away from idiots like Radiohead who try out novel marketing strategies. If porn hasn’t tried it, it won’t work.

And ignore the naysayers: Pornography is still king, and figures to be for a long time.

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