Two Paths Diverge...

As the "new car smell" wears off of so-called digital photography, some early questions are being answered.  First and foremost is that it has not ended the use of film. Indeed, in some academic circles it has only elevated film-based photography to the art department.
But the most recent shift that is of interest is the shift away from the traditional use of a photographic image to produce prints towards reproduction on purely digital platforms. That is, HDTV and LCD displays. When you step back from the hype and think about it, it just plain makes sense. Photographs have always looked best when used within the "system" that they were designed for. Print film always produced the best prints. Slides always looked best projected. Now digital is growing up and finding its natural home on digital devices.
Some early adopters of this new medium got that right away, it has just taken the rest of the world some time to get past the marketing slogans and settle into the medium. With HDTV sets and related audio-visual devices all having moved into the digital world it is very easy to just pop the memory card out of the camera and show your friends your latest adventures. The best news is that since these devices were designed to work together, your photos look their very best.
Want to share with friends? There is the now old fashioned email and photo web-site or just pop open your latest masterpiece on your high resolution cell phone. Who needs those pesky wallet photos that grandpa used to carry around?
Want to display on the mantel or wall? High resolution LCD display panels now come complete with a choice of frames.
But to truly showcase your work, plug that memory card into that big HDTV in the living room and sit back with the remote to put on a proper show. Most of these sets have a far greater dynamic range and richer color than any printer can produce. So those of you stuck in the stone age making prints, come on into the twenty first century! After all, paper prints are so very analog!
(PS: Don't forget to calibrate!)