Is it necessary that you film every sub-par opening band on your iPhone? No, there is no chance that one day they'll be famous and you'll be able to pull up your little video and say "I totally knew they'd be big." Stop it. Is it essential that you "check in" to the restaurant where you're dining with someone you see every day? Again, no. And do you need to take 47 photos of your big night out to prove that you weren't just watching My So-Called Life reruns all weekend? Well, that's up to you, but I'd still venture to say that the answer is no.
It seems to me that people are increasingly sacrificing the enjoyment of an experience for the sake of capturing it for other people to see. I say this in the wake of standing behind a wall of smartphones recording the entire set at a gig I was seeing. Or rather not seeing, thanks to the sea of arms of the crowd's amateur videographers. I just don't get it. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but isn't the point of going to a show the drinking and dancing with your friends? Both of those are pretty hard to do when you've got one arm up in an immobile salute to preserve the quality of your video (I use the term 'quality' loosely).
I know I should be less bothered by the actions of other people, but it's annoying. And more to the point, I don't think I'm just imagining that all the seconds taken up by technology are eroding our ability to simply bask in the pleasure of the moment. The check-in is becoming more pertinent than the meal. The text message, more interesting than the people you're with. The photograph, more urgent than the merriment. And in an effort to capture it all, I fear we're at risk of missing everything.
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