Part Two: The Business of Mobile Porn (Continuing the Interview with Tim Vandecasteele)

*Mature Content Alert, i.e. NSFW... well, just don't click on some of the links... oh, and if you're under 18, go away*

As I mentioned yesterday, Tim Vandecasteele and I chatted for one hour on Saturday, March 15. There was so much good material, I decided to make this a two part-series (click here for the first part). In this entry, we'll talk about Tim's concerns about mobile porn, legal and ethical implications, and the struggles of optimizing search engines for porn. Don't worry, tomorrow we'll be back to shorter, more digestible bits.

"iPhonePornGrid [iPG] like it is now is more of an experiment," Tim told me. "Does porn work on the iPhone?... indeed, it's super-accessible." Let's face it, of course porn works on the iPhone. It's an easy to use browser that can link to the internet via the EDGE network or any stray Wi-fi. In short, it's perfect for the lonely, computerless guy to whip up some inspiration for very portable way to get his rocks off.

But porn raises all kinds of issues. "I think Apple is afraid of [getting] a bad reputation," Tim says. "Porn is associated with spam and viruses." And, think about it: if iPhone really became a popular conduit for porn, it would make it more enticing for virus developers to create Mac viruses thus tarnishing Mac's superior reputation.

Tim also shared that only 37.69% of the visitors to iPG come through on the at&t EDGE network, meaning that a large portion are using the wifi capability, "so... it will definitely matter if iPhone has 3G." (We'll talk more about 3G in future entries.)

Mobile porn also raises concerns about minors. How do producers ensure that the phone is in the hands of not-so-impressionable eyes? Tim postures that, because iPG does not produce any content, they are able to avoid the legal red tape.

And just who are "they", the producers of iPG? Tim, age 23 and his 22 year old journalist brother. While Tim is in his last year at the University of Ghent studying electrical engineering, his brother, who has less tech experience, "uploads the content."

"The idea of iPG came because RubMyClit was such a huge success and the Google ads actually made some money," or so Tim says. "Too bad Google ads aren't allowed on porn sites-- so I went to AVN ads."

Getting money from a mobile porn site when you don't actually produce content is harder than you'd think. It's not like Tim and his brother at iPG are just middle men in a normal industry. They are running a porn site built for a mobile device. Because the iPhone display is different than a regular monitor, and because the EDGE network isn't as fast as your DSL, iPG seeks to make porn to fit the iPhone and load quicker. Tim says the average user spends 6 minutes and 23 seconds on iPG (to which my response was, naturally: "Well, that's long enough for me sometimes..."). We'll also talk more about how porn drives the development of new technologies in a future entry.

While iPG is not unique (there are many competitors you can read about on this VERY NSFW review site of mobile porn), Tim's model is a bit different from most being that they do not produce any content. "All [the] content is just from affiliate programs," meaning that users can see some content on iPG (quite a lot actually- all straight) and then decide whether to join an affiliate site. Simple enough, really.

"Actually, I want to go to some kind of paying model, but micropayments are not so easy, especially not for porn," Tim pines. By micropayments, Tim is talking about payments like "per picture or per minute instead of the pricier subscription model. "I want to make the payment quick and easy, but I haven't yet discovered the iPhone way of paying."

It's just not so easy to type all that information into the iPhone. But the alternative "micropayments" work a lot like the 900 numbers used to and how voting for American Idol used to: they partner with the phone companies who compile all the "Sir Charges" and put them on your phone bill. "In Europe we have some good SMS payment systems," Tim says. And I don't have to tell you how difficult it will be to make that case with US carriers.

So what does the future hold for iPG? Tim is looking into search optimization, but it's pretty difficult to rank on porn searches (imagining that the two best keywords for iPG would be "iPhone" and "porn", both likely already in hot contest). But Tim seems nonplussed, "In approximately one month I [made] my hosting costs back for a year. The rest are just little extras."

But to be honest, "We're actually looking into buying content of shooting content [if] feasible," Tim says. And, after all, like any guy, Tim says, "I consider shooting as a fun part, that's exactly why we're looking into it."

*I'd like to thank Tim for not only giving me an exclusive first interview, but also just being an all-around nice guy and tolerating my ridiculous line of questioning. We wish you and your brother all the best with your endeavor!*

First-ever Interview with the Man Behind the, umm, you know...

*Mature Content Alert, i.e. NSFW... well, just don't click on some of the links... oh, and if you're under 18, go away*

The writer was lucky enough to convince Tim Vandecasteele to sit down for a one-hour interview over the weekend. Would you believe no one else has interviewed the man behind the next big thing in sex ed? Readers may remember Tim as the man behind "RubMyClit". In this hour-long Skype conversation, Tim mused about his inspiration behind RMC, the mathematical formula he constructed to get the girl off, and the business of running a start up mobile porn website.

Tonight, I'll summarize the RMC portion of the conversation, and tomorrow, in part two, we'll talk about Tim and his brother's foray into the mobile porn world (a.k.a. iphoneporngrid.com or iPG as I'll call it).

Tim Vandecasteele would be a true American inspiration, if he were American. This 23-year-old son of Belgium and president of the student union of engineers at the University of Ghent is every technologically-advanced frat guy's best friend.

"I was working with my iPhone and one of my friends mentioned what my stroking resembled and I started thinking how I could implement that as I found the idea very cool," Tim told me on Saturday afternoon.

I had so many questions about RMC, and Tim patiently answered them all. Wanna know who drew that amazing representation of the vagina, painted nails and all? Tim would tell you that, at first, he "took a picture, but a drawing emphasized the game element and the fun. It also made it in my eyes easier to accept." And surely, he's right-- it wouldn't be so easy for iPhone users to show their friends at the bar if they were staring into a real vagina.

Ultimately, he found a photo on flickr. "I was looking for a nicely drawn vagina that wouldn't be too shocky," Tim says. "RubMyClit is NOT porn, [it's] just a fun game." And we couldn't agree more.

Many people have asked me if this site is password protected, and the answer is no. Tim doesn't see any legal implications with the game. "If minors want to see porn, they will. And as I said, I consider RubMyClit more as anatomics than porn," he said. (We'll talk more about this tomorrow in the second part of this interview.)

And, ladies, you'll be pleased to know that Tim simplified the mysterious act of stimulating the clitoris to some mathematical formulas. "[The formulas] first react to slow strokes, and later on [to] more rude and faster ones." Tim carefully explained how the javascript application makes it possible to "make her come [sic]" on an iPhone, but almost impossible to do with your normal browser or scroll wheel.

"Everyone has the same one for now, the same speed, and the same rendering," Tim said when asked about the research or personal experience that went into the development. "It is more based on math fun than real-life experience." If only it were that simple.

And, fellow frat boys, Tim and his 22-year-old journalist brother were able to make money off of RMC with the use of GoogleAds. At its peak, after the article on BoingBoing brought RMC to the forefront, RMC was seeing upwards of 15,000 visitors per day. This success led the brothers Vandecasteele to create iPG, although the money has not yet caught up to them. "Too bad Google ads aren't allowed on porn sites," pines Tim.

What does the future hold for RMC? Well, the long-awaited SDK was finally launched, but while Tim was initially optimistic, the initial launch of SDK does not allow porn. "[Because] Steve [Jobs] doesn't want them," Tim would say.

Although RMC's visitors have declined to 300-400/day, I like to think that RMC will get its second wind as iPhone adoption increases. I'm also optimistic because I'd like to see Tim be successful-- he's just so likable and he really seems to know his audience:

"I actually thought about a male version, as I think you might enjoy that more," Tim had the audacity to say to the writer. (He was right of course). "But the gestures just don't fit."

That and the target online gamer audience (i.e. straight guys) probably wouldn't like getting a guy off. Also, let's face it, there's nothing mysterious about getting a guy off.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the second part of my interview with Tim.

UPDATE 3/17/08: Here is the second part: http://iphoneandthecity.blogspot.com/2008/03/part-two-business-of-mobile-porn.html.

It Was a Matter of Time

*Mature Content Alert, i.e. NSFW... well, just don't click on some of the links... oh, and if you're under 18, go away*

I've been alluding to this for some time, but it's taken me a while to get the balls to actually post about it.

RubMyClit is an awesome webapp for the iPhone that turns it into an animated vagina that needs to get off. s you rub the screen (it takes some maneuvering with two fingers) the drawing gets flushed and excited and the "Horny bar" goes up and the screen tells you, "Don't stop! I'm so close." (Check out the video demo here; if you have an iPhone, check out the real deal here)

But I couldn't win. Now, I know I'm gay and all, but I love video games. This pissed me off. Surely there must be a gay version. Not sure what that would be since getting a guy off isn't near as mysterious as getting a girl off, but still. A boy can dream can't he?

The program is licensed by Creative Commons, and links to the iphoneporngrid which specializes in creating porn fit for viewing on the iPhone. I know I've mentioned the MACC before, but you can imagine that as we count down the days until Apple launches the SDK (rumor has it it will be announced next week), the porn industry is staring at the iPhone as the gateway to making truly mobile porn.

I'm curious now what kinds of mobile cyber sex sites there are. What will "iPhone sex" look like?

*Update: My friend G* and U-fabulous were both able to get the girl off, and I finished her off once too in just 3020 seconds. That sounds like decent foreplay. Look for my exclusive interview with the creator of RubMyClit on 3.14! Yay pi!*

*Update: Here is the first of my two-part interview with Tim Vandecasteele of RubMyClit fame.

It's About Protection

Last night, my friends and I went to Princeton to see a seminary production of The Vagina Monologues. This is serendipitous/coincidental/ironic because Jewels recently introduced me to a program for the iPhone that turns the touch screen into an animated vagina which users than fondle until it gets off. I will be writing more about this once I do some research; you see, this post is about protection.

New Jersey really is a foreign place to me. I love traveling and a good adventure, but the NJT and me are not BFF. After leaving work at 5 pm, I finally arrived at the McKay Student Center at 7:59 pm just before the angry vaginas and raucous feminist priestesses took the stage. (Now, this is not a review of the show, but as a side note, it was pretty awesome.)

The real tragedy occurred at approximately 10:27 pm outside of the WaWa near the Dinky Train Station at Princeton. My sister in Indiana sent me a text that said, "We just got new phones and we have text messaging now! Thought u should know!"

My friends were all very amused at her excitement over a mobile trend that was "so five years ago" and wanted to see this message. In passing iPhone to them, it happened. A quick slip, a lot of over dramatic yelling, a dive to cushion it against the nasty puked-on (I'm sure) pavement of the WaWa and CRASH (well, it was probably more just a light scatter)-- iPhone hit the pavement and now has a dent in it.

I realize I've never named my iPhone. Hence the poll.

This brought up a discussion of iPhone protection. There are all kinds of cases out there for the iPhone and I chose to purchase this one from Waterfield Designs in green. It holds the phone, isn't too bulky, and the silky insides clean the grime off the phone in between uses. But, when the phone is out of its nest, it is raw and unprotected. Hence, there is now a dent in it.

It's hard to find the best case though when no one (read: no celebrity) is carrying the same case around. The phone was trendy enough, but who out there is brave enough to lead the world in telling us what case to buy?