Quote:
Originally Posted by jayeff
The next wall that online porn will run into however, is that the internet is global. People are not walking into stores in a physical location to buy and walk out with a physical product.
This isn't an issue so long as the majority of sites which deliver access or downloadable products are charging the same rate to everyone. But if it becomes commonplace for membership of a porn site to cost $30 in the US and $60 in Europe, how long before someone comes up with a workaround?
We are talking a potential $360 a year saving. That's plenty to challenge the nerds out there and also enough for it to be worthwhile someone offering a commercial solution. There is plenty of room to charge a fee and still pass on a significant saving. Bear in mind too, the weakness of the US dollar is unlikely to be a temporary phenomenon: we could easily be looking at another 10+ years of it.
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Truth is... least in respective to the US, - this is a screwed market (not just talking about the adult industry). It's a market which consumes more than it can afford to pay and even when shipping the cheapest range of imports into the country - it still can't pay the bill. OK.. this is a US specific problem - but one of the main factors why the dollar is weak on the international market. Rest assured - this will not last.
Meantime, other western nations (least most of them) operate a stable fiscal policy and there is no reason on earth why anyone/nation needs to be dragged down by the internal consumption of the US.
It's a matter of get a grip and perform on an international basis - or shut up shop and live in a closet.
There are many factors at play here and plenty "workarounds" to implement - and little doubt these will be implemented as needed. At the same time, other markets are opening up - even now the EU has more seats looking at screens than the whole of North America.
There can be a plus for the US market in this - in that earnings in other currencies can be of more value (less than the $ as it is now). This equates to webmasters living in... eg some Eastern or South American countries where a signup is worth considerably more (or a dollar signup was worth considerably more).
Bottom line.. no webmaster operating a real business internationally on the net is going to bother about the internal problems of the US - they will either charge more dollars, change their pattern of trading or whatever to retain a healthy bottom line.