And something ends

[Frustration]

That merely brought the Internet down to the level of the common man. There was lots of note before them - just not of note to you, it seems.

[McAvoy]

2005, Internet infancy? The 'Net has been around since 1992, and there were fan groups for Who back in the AOL days.

I don't know how old you are but take it from me: up until the early noughties, the Internet was for Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. Geeks arguing on shitty message boards or downloading porn at a geological pace.

There was basically nothing of note on it. People mock Amazon, Facebook and YouTube, but they built the modern internet.

I don't know about that. I remember the days of Star Trek fan sites being all over the place. Geocities etc. Utopia Plantia being one of the original DITL style sites for starship discussion and the open forum itself.

All of these fan sites for various interests were really the one information you had outside books and magazines.

In the 90's, I remember it taking forever to download a 8 second porn clip or even a high resolution picture. But that was my only source for porn.

[clearspira]

That merely brought the Internet down to the level of the common man. There was lots of note before them - just not of note to you, it seems.

Yeah, well, it's the common man who are the problem on the Internet. The people who were there just to check out the stock ticker lines on their dial up connection weren't there to argue about women in Dr Who.

[clearspira]

2005, Internet infancy? The 'Net has been around since 1992, and there were fan groups for Who back in the AOL days.

I don't know how old you are but take it from me: up until the early noughties, the Internet was for Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. Geeks arguing on shitty message boards or downloading porn at a geological pace.

There was basically nothing of note on it. People mock Amazon, Facebook and YouTube, but they built the modern internet.

I don't know about that. I remember the days of Star Trek fan sites being all over the place. Geocities etc. Utopia Plantia being one of the original DITL style sites for starship discussion and the open forum itself.

All of these fan sites for various interests were really the one information you had outside books and magazines.

In the 90's, I remember it taking forever to download a 8 second porn clip or even a high resolution picture. But that was my only source for porn.

The Internet was too much of a hassle for naughty pics. It's why Baywatch was so popular.

[sayla0079]

2005, Internet infancy? The 'Net has been around since 1992, and there were fan groups for Who back in the AOL days.

I don't know how old you are but take it from me: up until the early noughties, the Internet was for Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons. Geeks arguing on shitty message boards or downloading porn at a geological pace.

There was basically nothing of note on it. People mock Amazon, Facebook and YouTube, but they built the modern internet.

I don't know about that. I remember the days of Star Trek fan sites being all over the place. Geocities etc. Utopia Plantia being one of the original DITL style sites for starship discussion and the open forum itself.

All of these fan sites for various interests were really the one information you had outside books and magazines.

In the 90's, I remember it taking forever to download a 8 second porn clip or even a high resolution picture. But that was my only source for porn.

The Internet was too much of a hassle for naughty pics. It's why Baywatch was so popular.

lol that explains why when the internet got more accessible Baywatch got canceled.

[Frustration]

You laugh, but that's pretty much it. It's also why Playboy went out of business.

[Nealithi]

You laugh, but that's pretty much it. It's also why Playboy went out of business.

My father wholeheartedly agrees with you on this one. But a few points in the other direction. How much did you use the high end stereo articles in Playboy? Followed by, I recall when Hugh died the company tried to shift the magazine from porn and loyal subscribers dropped their subscriptions. Yes easy access on the internet did not help. But poor business decisions hurt more I think.

[Frustration]

The magazine was never entirely about porn, I understand - it used to print high-quality science fiction stories, although with a tendency towards sexual themes, and include intelligent interviews. But those were always secondary features; people might be interested in something they stumbled across while flipping to the centerfold, but they bought it for the centerfold.

Now porn is freely available to anyone who can access an Internet connection.

[TGLS]

Yeah well Playboy was still being published thru March of 2020, and survived a year without any full frontal nudity. Something's keeping it afloat.

[clearspira]

Yeah well Playboy was still being published thru March of 2020, and survived a year without any full frontal nudity. Something's keeping it afloat.

According to wiki it stopped publishing print copies at the end of 2020.

In 1975 it sold 5.6 million. By 2017, 400,000.

From what I can tell from various websites, the bulk of Playboy's revenue now comes from merchandise. 65% of its revenue in 2019 was licensing. Basically, Playboy is now a clothing brand more than anything.