Although I'm somewhat glad for the tourist "gotta take my own shitty photo" attitude, because I saw a really nifty research project once that took thousands of tourist photos (of the Trevi Fountain IIRC) and combined them to generate a high-res 3d image without any people in it. That was pretty cool.
If I could change anything about my Machu Picchu experience, though, it would have been to find some way to shut up that blathering loudmouth moron in front of me who barely paused for breath for the entire duration of the morning hike to the nearby summit. Jesus christ lady, I couldn't hear a single nature sound, and I did NOT need to know about what a slut your cousin is.
To this day though the best picture I ever took was in Hakone with a really shitty point-and-shoot and none of the photographic training (hobbyist level) I have now.
That's a standard service at Disneyland.[1] Costs $169.
I actually prefer candid home video infinitely more -- most pictures on social networks are as authentic as pornography stills.
Especially if she's not, ya'know, there...
For example seeing a random picture of Tokyo Tower that I took with no one recognizable in it, invokes about the same connection as a random Google Image search for Tokyo Tower. However the picture of me standing in front of it, seeing my clothes, my umbrella, and all the other details puts me right back into that day. I remember more vividly the details before the picture and after the picture as well. It took me quite a few trips to realize this, but its pretty apparent now when I find myself skipping over random scenery pictures in my albums. Sometimes it can't be helped that no one is included, but I make an effort to minimize these pictures.
I recently went on an alaskan cruise with my family. While they all took pictures, I left my camera home and my phone locked up and just enjoyed myself.
Not once have I regretted not taking pictures. Like others have posted, you can get better quality shots from the same views, and the handful of pictures we did get of the family were shared out to everyone.
I enjoyed stepping away from technology and experiencing everything directly rather than looking for great pictures and lugging equipment around.
As an amateur photographer, looking for creative shots that I can't just find online lead me to see/find much more interesting areas when hiking/traveling/sight seeing.
An example is at a football game where the a team is imminently going to score. Up come the phones. Especially if the game is being shown on TV and you can watch the highlight over and over and over, why not just enjoy the moment? Same with concerts, just enjoy the music and show, your video is completely worthless to even yourself.
it's when people take photos or videos of something and miss a moment
I know for sure that a pro photo of the same location wouldn't be the same. Maybe it has something to do with my visual/spacial memory.