The Erotic Engine: How Pornography Has Powered Mass Communication, from Gutenberg to Google

Barss, Patchen

ISBN 10: 0385667361 / ISBN 13: 9780385667364

Published by Doubleday of Canada, 2010

About this Item

352 pages. 9.25x6.25x1.25 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # 0385667361

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Erotic Engine: How Pornography Has Powered Mass Communication, from Gutenberg to Google
• Publisher: Doubleday of Canada
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385667361
• ISBN 13: 9780385667364
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.51 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

Pornography: The force for change that has been written out of the history of world culture.

From cave painting to photography to the internet, pornography has always been at the cutting edge in adopting and exploiting new developments in mass communication. And in so doing, it has helped to promote and propel those developments in ways that are rarely acknowledged. Without pornography, the internet would not have grown so quickly. The e-commerce payment systems that are now commonplace would be at a far more primitive stage security and usability. Without video streaming software developed for pornography sites, CNN would be struggling to deliver news clips. Without advertising from sex sites, Google could not have afforded YouTube.

This smart, witty and well-researched history shows how a vast secret trade has bankrolled and shaped mainstream culture and its machines.

About the Author

Patchen Barss has written about science, technology and culture for more than a decade. His articles have appeared in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Montreal Gazette, Reader's Digest, Saturday Night, CBC online, and many other places. He has worked as a producer at CBC Television and the Discovery Channel, and is currently a director of communications in the field of advanced scientific research.