The Oldest Profession Goes Tech

by Zoe Pollock

Sudhir Venkatesh reports on how the prostitution industry has changed, including the ubiquity of Blackberrys and the rise of Facebook. Money quote:

It’s hard out there for a pimp—especially now. Changes in the sex industry have rendered them superfluous. I met 11 pimps working out of midtown Manhattan in 1999, and all were out of work within four years. One enlisted in the military; two have been homeless. Only one now has a full-time job, working as a janitor in a charter school. I asked one of them how pimping experience helps him in the legit economy: “You learn one thing,” he said. “For a good blow job, a man will do just about anything. What can I do with that knowledge? I have no idea.”