Why I don't like all the video cameras

Sunday, August 19, 2007 by Dave Winer.

In the past the ability to publish or be broadcast was prohibitively expensive, that's why the publications and broadcasts of the past had to have business models, and that's why those of us from the previous century always want to know how some blog or vlog or podcast is going to make money. We were trained to think that they had to, because they were so expensive to produce.  

But today it's nothing like that, and the everyday papparazzi are proving it. The video cameras are so cheap and so are Internet connections, we're heading to a place where even the most casual of encounters may be captured and broadcast.  

I want to live a more ordinary life, not one where I feel like a celebrity. People already expect too much of me, I never seem to live up to their expectations, that's because they think I'm running for office or want them to buy my record or watch my TV show. I want none of that. Mostly I want to just be a normal schlub, sitting in the audience, maybe contributing something once in a while, and publishing my art on the Internet, for my own pleasure, and that of anyone who happens to be looking in. 

Why mention this now? Why should you care? Because soon you're going to have to decide whether you're a celebrity or a schlub. And you may not have a choice but be a celebrity. 

My request: If you point a camera at someone, ask for permission before you start recording, and if they say no, don't turn it on, smile and say "No problem."