On CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper`s blog, featured on CNN.com, another correspondent expresses his consternation that since the video iPod was released, the most popular download for it is pornography.
I was surprised to learn this myself. I guess I shouldn`t have been, considering that I know how much of the Internet floats on porn, but I guess I had somehow thought that iPod owners (I am one myself) were a superior class of human being.
As far as I`m concerned, a person`s interest in pornography is his or her own business, as long as there`s no exploitation involved, and as long as they do it on their own time. But I am always astonished when confronted with statistics like this that indicate there is a global obsession with the raunchy stuff.
A world of alternatives
Surely there are better things to do with a video iPod, or any mobile video device. Off the top of my head, I can think of comedy video clips, movie trailers, celebrity news, music videos, television shows, for heaven`s sake, or even motivational speeches, if that`s your thing.
Perhaps all it boils down to is the fact that the purveyors of porn are the shrewdest businessmen out there.
Georgina Guedes, editor, ITWeb Brainstorm
I think the problem I have with this concept, more than anything else, is that I feel, quite strongly, that pornography should be watched in the privacy of your own home. If it`s downloaded onto an iPod, its number one feature suddenly becomes portability.
This means it`s available to iPod users in shopping centres, on buses or at work. That makes me feel very icky about the people around me.
What`s the point?
For me, the point of having a video iPod is to have certain cherished pieces of visual information available whenever you feel like looking at them. I really struggle to understand why this would apply to pornography.
Do men now, unwinding over beers after work, show each other video clips of naked women frolicking? I know there are women who are keen on pornography as well.
Perhaps there is a new wave of book clubs where each attendee brings her iPod and shows her friends what smut she has managed to turn up in the last week.
Perhaps all it boils down to is the fact that the purveyors of porn are the shrewdest businessmen out there, and are pushing their product enthusiastically, while the rest of the mobile content market is taking time to wake up.
Whatever the case may be, I`m going to start looking very suspiciously at any iPod owner that I see heading towards the bathroom, device in hand.
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