A bit of perspective

Some terms have been changed to make this quote a bit less obviously ridiculous:

"The appearance of [phone] cameras was so sudden and so pervasive that the reaction in some quarters was fear. A
figure called the "camera fiend" began to appear at beach resorts, prowling the premises until he could catch female
bathers unawares.

One resort felt the trend so heavily that it posted a notice: "PEOPLE ARE FORBIDDEN TO USE THEIR [CAMERA PHONES]
ON THE BEACH." Other locations were no safer. For a time, [phone] cameras were banned from the Washington Monument.
The "Hartford Courant" sounded the alarm as well, declaring that "the sedate citizen can't indulge in any
hilariousness without the risk of being caught in the act and having his photograph passed around [the
internet]."

Sound familiar? It was written about the Kodak camera when it first came out (obviously with the original terms in there). Strange how new technologies freak people out and then turn out to be totally normal. There are enough small cameras out there, both digital and good old film, both in phones and stand-alone, that can take pictures of people in compromising situations that we may as well get used to it. Getting in a huff about camera phones will seem absurd in retrospect when they are completely ubiquitous and the next thing comes out to scare people.