IMO and experience ...

Raw statistics say you are right. History says you are right. There are exceptions of course, but in the aggregate cameras as "we" know them" are eroding away like a beach being pounded by each new storm-wave of technology.

The key phrase is "as we know them". However, this revolution of image making technology shouldn't be confused with the demise of photography, which is all pervasive in today's society, far more democratic and available.

What has changed is how images are used and how they are valued ... and the consequences of "how they are used" has directly impacted the traditional camera industry. The public internet isn't in need of 20 to 36 meg files, where a vast majority of files are reduced to jpeg compression and truncated color space (sRGB) measured in sub 1 meg to 5 meg sizes.

What has become dominate is "content" over "craftsmanship". Cell phones are there always and get the pic of aunt Jane falling in the kiddie pool, or a pet stunt ... and no matter how crappy the shot it gets a trillion "likes" and compliments ... so the value of well crafted images takes a hit because the content of the image is the treasure.

What is also being threatened (even dying off) is the use of prints as the final product of photography. Among the general public, digital files have taken over as the final form, and they are treated in a fleeting manner. Here today, gone tomorrow. So much so that archivists and historians are worried that "common man" images (such as family prints stored away in boxes and albums of the past), which are the bell-weather of understanding "the way we were", are not being preserved.

Prints, especially wall prints, also show-case the properties of cameras more capable than current cell phone stuff that looks good on face-book, not so good as a framed 11 X 14 print.

Again, while there are notable exceptions, I've watched the tapering off of prints as the final medium for photos. I photographed weddings for decades, and as digital took over, fewer and fewer clients ordered prints, and album sales fell off a cliff. Toward the end of my run, a few clients who even paid for the album in advance didn't have me print them!

I use high end MF DSLRs and Mirrorless 35mm cameras with top optics. However, I can justify it because I still do professional advertising photography (albeit less than in past). The final use of these high end images warrants the equipment I use. For example this past week-end I did a studio shoot of a model wearing jewelry for a trade show which is being printed 7" tall ... and the product had to be finely resolved for close up inspection. I have a lot of work like that where the images will be used on the web and are printed for posters, displays, or cropped.

I also use that gear for my personal work which I DO print and frame. Interestingly, most of my "younger" semi-pro photo friends with high-end gear rarely make any prints, some never do ... which makes me scratch my head in bewilderment.

The photo communities on the web are ubiquitous, and it seems like sales of gear should be off-the hook, but it is not. Probably because we are narrowly focused on the subject, and participants are additive from all over the world , not just our local community like in the past. We photographers tend to talk to each other on sites like this, and it seems like there is an intense level of activity ... but it is not a true reflection of the world at large.

I think the traditional camera industry is moving toward higher cost, more capable tools to satisfy an ever growing attempt to compensate for smaller numbers of sales. A Sony FE:70-200/2.8 G Master zoom for $2,600! In my semi-retired state, I could no longer afford the gear I currently have ... LOL!

Oh, I am 72 and have been shooting for over 50 years.

Students are being dumbed down in our schools. The NEA should be ashamed and I hope De Vos has some influence... the motivated students will excel because their parents are motivated to be an influence in their education. The rest that don't have the motivation and are at the mercy of the bureaucracy of the NEA will suffer. Textbooks are full of fake or incomplete information and even the teachers that really care are instructed to just pass them up the line, no matter what their achievement. I come from a family of dedicated teachers and they are frustrated... tune in to Jesse Watters interviews on the street and be appalled by the lack of knowledge of our college kids... not all, but a lot.

"The rest that don't have the motivation and are at the mercy of the bureaucracy of the NEA will suffer. Textbooks are full of fake or incomplete information and even the teachers that really care are instructed to just pass them up the line"

As the OP for this thread, I have to ask what the hell you are talking about? I've got teen grandaughters in public school and they are learning well. They are not at anybody's mercy!

The thread is about photography, cameras and how it is changing. DeVos, Trump and the NEA are not what this topic is about. They may not know what a camera is! If you want to start a political thing, please do it on your own and not hijack this topic.

"The rest that don't have the motivation and are at the mercy of the bureaucracy of the NEA will suffer. Textbooks are full of fake or incomplete information and even the teachers that really care are instructed to just pass them up the line"

As the OP for this thread, I have to ask what the hell you are talking about? I've got teen grandaughters in public school and they are learning well. They are not at anybody's mercy!

The thread is about photography, cameras and how it is changing. DeVos, Trump and the NEA are not what this topic is about. They may not know what a camera is! If you want to start a political thing, please do it on your own and not hijack this topic.