Viewfinder: Why Did You Buy Your Camcorder?
While most of us will answer that question a bit differently, just about everyone of us was strongly influenced by the same thing in making the decision to go out and buy a new camcorder. Even a good number of serious hobbyists and professionals had the same thing in mind to some degree when they were shopping for a camcorder: the desire to reconstruct a memory, to re-create an emotional state for posterity. Consumers have purchased at least 28 million camcorders since 1985 and they have made their purchases for this one simple reason: to reminisce.
It's a funny thing when you think about it, the human quest for feelings. We take vacations each year for the peaceful feelings that we get from the experience. We go on roller coasters seeking fear. We buy speed boats, fast cars and motorcycles for the thrill. We buy large houses to show off our worth and feel pride. We buy big cars for comfort and to show our status.
In a similar way, we buy little plastic devices full of electronics in the pursuit of other feelings. We buy CD players to experience the feelings that the world's leading recording artists create in song. These can be peaceful, calm feelings or a whirlwind of agitated emotions. We often use telephones to speak with our family and friends, seeking comfort and familiarity. We buy computers and video games for the excitement and thrills that they give us, as well as the feelings of accomplishment we get from winning. Camcorders and still cameras allow us to relive good times. They give us the same feelings we get when we reminisce. Camcorders, however, do a much better job of this because we get the illusion of motion and sound. In a limited way, you might say that camcorders actually remember for us.
What do we really get when we watch a video recording of our kids' birthday parties from years gone by? We don't get the memory at face value. We really don't care too much about the actual seconds and minutes that make up a birthday party. If we did, the videos would be just as fulfilling right after the party or the next day. Videos are like fine wines, scotch and antique furniture; they gain value as they age.
What we get when we watch a video shot 10 years ago is the ability to see how we have changed. We may be seeing the same sights and hearing the same sounds, but we are older and wiser. Watching a recording of days gone by, we can remember how we saw the world around us back then. We remember both our innocence and naivete. When we remember our youth, we remember that we are growing old.
Watching old home videos can be quite a shock to the system. We become more human when we see ourselves in times past. In essence, we're willing to invest several hundred dollars in a camcorder for the privilege of being able to humble ourselves in the future.
So break out those camcorders and videotape everyday things in life as well as special occasions. Your camcorder is a magical device that can preserve the memory of the places you live and the people you love. Something as uneventful as the family around the dinner table or your young child's soccer game will surely bring you great joy when you watch them years from now and reminisce.
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