Morning Folks!!
There are a few pictures that I posses that tell the story of the last decade. The first one taken in 1998 and the second one in 2008. Both from the Internet. One before there was a domain industry in the adult world of online money making and the second one a little more familiar to many. Both of the pictures represent to me the epicenter of things.
The one above is from January 1998. The golden days. I am on the left,
Serge in the middle, Ron Levi (Fantasyman) on the right. They made
their millions early. Serge travels the world. Ron has his hands in a
few things and has even come to a couple of TRAFFIC shows. Serge and
Ron invented pissing on the net. They would go after each other for
months on end. All night, all day. They hated each other in public but
knew they were making themselves millions doing it in private. Pissing
to an art form. Not a single domainer could match the wit of these 2.
Not even close. They will slice you and dice you before you know what
happened. Newbies coming on the board for the first time would get
challenged. How they would react would basically determine their
futures. This was a tough business. But the thing I will remember most
about the early guys in adult was how really sharp they were. I can say
with a fair amount of confidence that what they did, when they did it,
how they did it is still ahead of most of mainstream a decade later.
With no road map whatsoever they were able to innovate and harness the
power of the Internet in the matter of months. The trail that industry
blazed in months has really yet to be matched. The foundation of the
Internet was built by the adult world and mainstream is still considerably behind the curve. These 2 could rattle off their stats in a manner that would make most web guys embarrassed. The first stat I usually ask folks in mainstream is always the most important and about 95% answer with a blank look on their face or they try and double talk me with total bullshit. That gives you an idea of how much still needs to be accomplished.
The next one is a bit more familiar but represent many of the best qualities of the guys from above. Same picture. Different players. Different era. Different sector.
Rick, Frank, Kevin
The vehicles change, the people change, but what they represent never does. The obstacles may have different names but they resemble the same things. In 10 years from now, God willing, there will be another picture in another era, possibly in a different sector. But they will say the same thing. What will be in that picture? Faces representing another stage of the same rocket. See I truly believe the Internet is many years away from its' peak. My 20 year plan never calculated the peak, it only calculated the time to have all the tools in place to reach another level.
In TV terms we are not even in the 1950's. In automobile terms we are making a 1930 car line. In age of a child, Einstein would be 9. In baseball salary terms, 1930's, Babe Ruth era, $100k/year. In each of these examples I think you will agree that the peak happened many years later. Decades later. The differences were huge. I expect th Internet to have a similar pattern. Why wouldn't it? Especially since we have paralleled so many things for so many years. It will be slightly accelerated because communication is so much faster. What we know as fact today and predicted back then is stunning. If I made a list of things that are basic today that were not just a decade ago it may help you to realize how far we have come and yet how far we have yet to go. Simply put the Internet is the greatest marketing, sales, social, communication, commercial generating medium ever invented. (Add your own) We have penetrated perhaps 15% of the power of the Internet. The future and upside are so bright but just like a sunny day tomorrow, you may have to wither a bit of a storm tonight to enjoy it.
Have a GREAT Day!
Rick Schwartz
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