Appletell | Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPod | News, Rumors, Reviews, How-Tos

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Video tapes, DVDs, cell phones…all saw their push into the mainstream increase greatly once the porn industry got ahold of them, and now CNN is saying the iPhone is “...increasingly the source of forbidden fruit.”

Well, duh. Have you seen the quality of that screen?

These kind of reports are always good for a laugh, mainly because it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? Where there’s a video screen, there’s porn. But I always learn something I didn’t know. For instance, have you ever heard of “moan tones?” I’m guessing you can’t buy those through iTunes. In Europe, a video chatting market allows customers to pay an average of $50 a month to exchange dirty messages with actresses.

However, the article goes on to get iPhone specific:

...thanks in large part to the iPhone’s video dexterity, short clips are becoming a staple of the mobile porn business. The speed promised by the iPhone 2.0 is much anticipated. Google Trends, which measures Web buzz, shows a sharp increase over the past year in the popularity of the term “iPhone porn.”

Guess we better add that to the keyword meta tags here at Appletell.

The article gets even funnier, featuring quotes such as “It’s by far the porn-friendliest phone,” from Devan Cypher, representative for San Francisco–based Sin City Entertainment. I can’t help but think Apple is missing a great marketing opportunity by not putting that in the advertisements. I mean, the whole “iPhone 3G is an iPhone killer” theme is clever, but come on! iPhone 3X!

Apple spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock is quick to point that Apple doesn’t condone iPhone porn distribution. This won’t stop iPhone users such as blogger Jason Swifter from dreaming, however. He wrote on his blog at iphonematters.com, “I wish there was an application that allowed you to undress people by dragging your fingers across the screen and literally dragging it off.”

Whoa! Dude! I think you just created a new euphemism, there!

iPhone users can look for this debate to heat up soon. On one hand, you have the porn industry:

Sensing the start of a profitable new era for pocket porn, the adult entertainment industry is investing heavily and feverishly broadening its marketplace of iPhone porn.

On the other hand, you’ve got angry parents and Ms. Bowcock:

The genre’s availability could spark new demand for mobile-phone porn blockers, as parents realize that children could access adult content on Apple’s device. “Our iPhone 2.0 software will give customers the opportunity to turn on parental controls,” says Apple spokeswoman Bowcock.

Of course, none of this is Apple’s fault. The porn industry will target any media device with a video screen, but the popularity of Apple’s iPhone and its easy-to-use web browser will undoubtedly make it a lightning rod for protest groups and media reports. The negative attention could hurt Apple, but not enough to offset the sales that will result as people see these reports and say, “What? I can get me some porn on that thing? Honey, do we got ourselves an Apple Store near here?”

If Apple wants to “..figger out a way to keep the young ones moral after school” (thank you, Harold Hill), the best thing they can do is make sure iPhone users know all about Super Monkey Ball and such. After all, if you’ve got a choice between Jenna Jameson and a monkey on a ball, who are you going to pick?

Via [Time.com]