Going green and finding renewable sources of energy is a pretty hot topic these days. Homes with solar panels, greenhouses that route rain runoff to home sewage and companies using geothermal sources for power have all made headlines. One innovation, however, hasn’t quite made the mainstream news although the internet can’t stop talking about it.
PORNHUB: THE ADULT ECO-WARRIOR
The popular adult entertainment website PornHub announced a new invention which can harness the kinetic energy produced while masturbating. Technically, it can be produced with any repetitive arm movement but, considering the audience on the PornHub website, it’s no mystery which activity they are considering.
The gadget, called Wankband, is worn on the user’s wrist and looks like a simplistic watch. The Wankband would generate power once it began moving up and down and that energy would then be stored in a kinetic charger located inside the band. The charger could then be used to provide power to any electronic device such as smartphone, tablets, laptops and gaming systems.
ADULT ENTERTAINMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
This isn’t the first time the adult entertainment industry has been at the forefront of emerging technology. The birth of film took place in the 1890s when motion-picture cameras were invented and could capture movies that lasted just under one minute. These motion pictures heralded the dawn of the age of cinema but even before the first film studios were built in 1897, a porn movie had already been shot.
Le Coucher de la Mariée was initially shot in 1896 and has gone down in history as the first pornographic film. The title translates as Bedtime for the Bride and the film was also eventually released as The Bridegroom’s Dilemma. The film is silent, lasts only 7 minutes and features Louise Willy, a cabaret performer. The film features her strip-tease talents and features only one other actor, an unknown, who simply watches. The film was released in 1899 and remains a milestone in the history of film.
Later, in 1958, the porn industry again steeped in and became the force behind the standardization of Super 8 film thanks to the habits of photographer Harrison Marks. His habit of filming women undressing and posing semi-naked kicked off the “home glamour movies” trend, a precursor to modern day home videos. These 8mm films were traded so often and so widely that the film type itself became the industry standard even as professional pornographic movies were filmed. Then, in the 1970s home movies took a giant leap forward when VCRs were first introduced, featuring two rival tape styles – VHS and Betamax. Betamax offered better recording and a crisper picture but only 60 minutes of recording time for each tape. VHS on the other hand offered a full 3 hours of recording time and so became the preferred format in the adult entertainment industry and, eventually, the rest of the world.
Even in the internet age, porn has been a driving force. Before the days of streaming video, large photos could take hours to download but that didn’t stop adult websites from offering the finest smut they could deliver through ASCII. The adult entertainment industry – and the audience who demanded it – helped bring about everything from on demand video to online purchasing. So PornHub’s aim to use the power of porn to help build the energy of tomorrow isn’t really that outlandish.
The idea is still in testing, however, so it remains something of a pipe dream, but one with some serious backing. The company is throwing all their weight behind the campaign and, now, the beta-testing of the devices. They’ve developed a special website to help educate the public about this newest advancement in sustainable energy and to ask for volunteers to give it a go.
