If people were to rise up with torches and pitchforks over every new product that comes with hype, image, and bullshit we'd have a wonderful Luddite society.

Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.

Good thing they don't make tiny cameras that are essentially invisible because that would really be an issue, wouldn't it. We'd probably pass all sorts of laws to protect against that kind of invasion of privacy.

I think this calls for a social experiment. Walk down the street with a camcorder (very obvious that you are recording) and see how people react. Walk down the same street, same time of day with a smartphone but act like you are using it for navigation (obfuscating the recording but the smartphone is up at a level that could be recording). See how people react in both cases.

As a person who has done a lot of video work in public locations, it is rare to have someone jump out of the line of sight of the camera. I've never had anyone try to hide when I use a smartphone.

Of course, I could also build a little hidey pocket to record people with the smartphone without them knowing at all. I guess that would be even MORE of an invasion of privacy, right?

I was thinking about going to jail to find people to play D&D with... now I know that it a bad idea.