Hey Vick - Stop trying to cheer us up. It won't work. :P
Are you sure you want to quit the porn biz and become a motivational speaker?
Kidding aside, both you and eatapeach have some valid points. There are absolutley way more challenges than ever; patent suits, Visa, the political climate, over-saturation of the same old porn, etc.
A large budget makes lots of things easier, but it takes way more than that for success. The people that will succeed and experience longevity in this business are the ones that treat it like a business.
I am hard at work on my 2004 marketing plan and business plan. It's one of the biggest pain-in-the-ass things I have to do. However, it forces me to look outside the little world of Internet porn and see some of the same things eatapeach mentioned.
Carrie is right that we need to provide better value to the consumer as well. Exclusive content is becoming more important too.
Summing up, there's more challenges that will help get rid of some of the less committed, less professional operators and when the dust settles the best stuff will be left and the industry will move onwards and upwards.