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There is only one development that changed porn beyond all recognition in the last 50 years. The others are side issues.
That happened in retail. The cost of running a shop is huge. Rent, taxes, heating, lighting, insurance, staff, etc. Make it hard for a proliferation of retail outlets with a product with a limited market. One shop could satisfy the demand of many.
It was the retail end that made the money. A shop had to turn over a money to pay the costs and make a profit. Online pornographers keep replying to this with the handful of sites that make very good money. With porn shops, it was a case of them all making a good level.
Shops, wholesale, and publishers were only interested in stocking what sold in big numbers. It's the same today with supermarkets that won't have slow sellers on shelves that could accommodate faster sellers.
The exodus to video made a small change. With a video movie, we left the 20-minute loop behind, replacing it with a 90-minute movie. In a Larger Box. It didn't matter that anyone could now shoot on video because it only mattered if it was good enough to stack on a retail shelf, after it had stacked on a wholesalers shelf and packed into a box and mailed to the retail.
This is why solo girl, lesbian and all the smaller niches were hard to sell. Hardcore Boy girl outsold them every single time. If the customer wants Big Boob, Leg, Teen, MILF, Amateur, Professional, Gay, Gonzo, Transexual, etc. He wanted to see them fucking. And the shop owner needed them to be outselling others, their section of the store or they were dead in the water.
90% of those who got into membership pornsites, would never have been selling well enough. So the question isn't, was there more money in offline porn or online porn. There was a very good income to a fortune for those who made the grade and nothing for those who didn't. Except for mail order. I have personal knowledge of that.
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