Day 4: Our future is one big monopoly — and porn is shaping it.

SXSW: An Australian’s story

While day three was a an educational flop — I was adamant that day 4 wouldn’t go down without a fight.

My first session started on the hot topic of equal pay — which turned out to be a very long sales pitch for their new software — but did highlight that even with all of the major factors (education, experience, title, employer, location) adjusting it, there is still an unexplained gap of 5.4%!

The speaker’s solution for this was to clean up the way that salaries are paid — [which is all well and good, as long as the employers were acknowledging that there is a bias in the first place].

I’ve definitely been left hungry for more info on this topic — so if you know of any more readings/talks, please send them my way!

I’m curious to know of more solutions that could encourage (or catalyse) change (with some urgency), rather than just acknowledge it.

GAFA: The relentless rise of the tech giants

by James Schad (founder of We Grow Startups)

The tech giants as you know them

A great talk.

James discussed how Google (90% Search), Apple (91% Smart Phone), Facebook (1.9bn reach) and Amazon (43% Online Retail) are currently leading in each of their fields…

But not for long.

How will Facebook make money?

Google (86%) and Facebook (97%) are both heavily reliant on advertising as their main source of $$ (with a duopoly on the big bucks).

But as users become fatigued by the ads (and non-responsive), the ad dollars are moving away…

So what are they doing about it?

You can almost feel them scurrying to invest for dear life!

All four giants have been hectically investing, to try and find their next golden goose.

In fact, Google have lost $6bn USD to dud investments so far.

And all the while — Amazon has been inching in on Google’s search offering.

Amazon are the only ones who are successfully diversifying:

• Their ad revenue is expected to reach $1bn in 2017,
• They offer Music & Prime reading,
• Are rumoured to be launching their own new fashion lines.

And so, while James spoke a little more on the development of search [in 5yrs, it’s estimated that more than half of all searches will be by voice or image], the key takeaway is to get ready for Amazon to take over.

Amazon’s future of shopping patent— blimps as floating warehouses, with drones to deliver product to homes.

A lunchtime adventure

Ok I did go to another session after the GAFA one, but there’s nothing major to report — the speaker discussed the similarities of a narrative arc to the purchase process (and spruiked her new book).

The fun stuff though (after I had my Korean-Mexican fusion tacos from a Sharktank winner, no less):

BBQ in a school bus — I didn’t eat here ‘cos of cooties, obviously

A vending machine that you could win a car out of (although I foresee logistical issues)

There were robots that you could have a conversation with in the Japan / Sony WOW Factory

I played with more Sony prototypes and saw some cool interactive/ digital artworks too, but I foolishly only took video footage of them.

[If you’re interested, keep an eye on the insta @withcollective_ for anything in action…]

And then I arrived really, really early to:

Open Sourcing Data and Porn

by Michael Bucchino (Sr Interactive Producer at Droga5)

So to clarify just how big a gameplayer these porn sites are — Michael shared some stats with us.

In fact, after seeing those viewer numbers — you’ve got to wonder if you’re in the wrong industry!

And this is just one site — the stats are of 2016.

So, even thought I’d heard of it before— for UX (and similar) advancements to often follow the lead of porn sites…

I was blown away to find out that they were also the ones to introduce and/or mainstream:

• online payment,

• super 8 films,
• automated closed captioning,
• traffic optimisation,
• streaming video (thanks Danni Ashe),
• browser hijacking,
• broadband,
• pop-up advertising,
• IM & video-chatting,
• Blu-ray,
• and domain name hijacking.

And it’s not just about the tech.

With women like Cindy Gallop and Danni Ashe running their own companies, it’s having women take the lead (unlike most other industries) to lead in their thinking as well.

The porn industry is reworking the structure for women in the workplace, and in bed. [Obviously this isn’t the whole case — but just hear this out…]

From Cindy Gallop’s grassroots Make Love initiative, to bringing experts like clinical psychologist (and sex therapist) Lauren Bettito into the inner-workings of their business— these companies are changing the way their industry is approached — and how women are treated in them.

For example — more recently, through their research [and they definitely have the numbers for it], they realised that many women in the more conservative states were turning to their site for sexual education.

In fact, shortly after Utah made a ruling against more rigorous sexual education in schools, site visits jumped. Horrifying.

So, one porn site took it upon themselves to roll out their own sex ed, redirecting traffic to their new educational (PG13) program:

Awesome!

Innovation in the unlikeliest of places — in the most unlikely ways. ❤

+ Pornhub have also launched their own “Dolly Doctor” with a Pornhub sexual wellness centre, hosted by Dr Laurie Bettito.

[Now let’s just for a moment acknowledge that I wrote all of this as an adult, without any seedy puns or innuendo: *pats self on back*]

And that’s me, over and out on day four.