To clap or not to clap?

I have a bit of a bone to pick with my fellow colleagues and certain audience members.  Every year there are always a handful of concerts where enthusiastic concert-goers clap at the end of many of the movements.  This is inevitably followed by a number of people rolling eyes, making exclamations, and expressing their distaste for the "uneducated audiences."  Why bother? Though there are times where I too understand that the break between movements sometimes interrups the flow and momentum, but ultimately the eye-rolling causes more bad energy and disturbance than the clapping itself!  Why are we so above it all that we can't just let our audiences enjoy the music and if they feel so inclined, let us know that they enjoyed what we just played?  Does it really affect our performance that much that we can't let them express how they feel? It's only in the last century that this became the standard (and though I understand Mahler's intentions-his works were long enough already!), why has it become so rigid and unmoveable? If you go to a jazz concert, audiences clap during a piece to express their enjoyment of a great solo-why isn't this possible in classical music, even if it was just between movements?  And finally,  I have to comment on the standing ovation. Don't get me wrong, I love to see audience's enthusiasm and appreciation. But I do miss the times when the standing ovation was reserved for those truly great performances and spectacular moments to signify that the particular performance just heard was uniquely magnificent.  How do we set those performances apart today?  Should we reevaluate how we show our appreciation for classical music in this century?