IF medieval alchemists had succeeded in turning base metals into gold, what is the betting they would have blown the proceeds in the local brothel? Humans seem to have an irrepressible urge to turn technologies developed for noble uses to baser ones.
An obvious example is the video recorder, developed to free people from the tyranny of broadcasting schedules but now a primary tool of the pornographer. Satellite television is another.
And when virtual simulations - which encourage viewers to believe they are a part of the scene depicted - made their debut some years ago, what caught the public imagination first was the prospect of electronic sex.
Although this is a futuristic example of the potential use of computers in the sex industry, there is growing concern about a much less esoteric phenomenon - the dissemination of pornographic material either as computer diskettes or over computer networks.
Computer pornography is not a new issue: in the early days of personal computing there was justifiable outrage over the dissemination of crudely-drawn computer games with sexist and racist themes.
What is new, however, is the quality of the images that modern technology makes possible and the ease with which they can be disseminated, especially where young people are involved.