The boom in digital photography

Not many years ago, it would have been very difficult to imagine it was possible for an amateur to even think about making money from photography - that was left to the full-time professionals, with prohibitively expensive kit and years of experience. Luckily for us, digital photography has changed all that... and here's some reasons why:

• Digital cameras mean you can instantly review your images whilst you're still 'on location' - you can then realise what you've done wrong (e.g. really should have remembered to have taken the lens cap off), correct it and try again
• , take 100's of images and delete the bad ones and re-use memory cards. The cards I use and recommend are SanDisk CompactFlash 4GB Extreme III Memory*. So no more changing films, waiting for processing and then realising the mistakes being made
• The pace of technology change (helped by good competition between manufacturers) means better quality cameras are being launched all the time, with new features working their way down the range; For example, Canon have just launched the remarkable Canon Digital SLR Camera EOS 5D Mark II*, with amazing video capabilities. As this becomes mainstream, this technology will shake things up even more for the professional
• Image editing has become mainstream software. Most (all?) new cameras come bundles with some software which will work well. (The latest version of the software I use is Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 (PC)* - there is a ton of stuff you can do to make your images more marketable)
• As prices have dropped and it's become easier to take photographs (although perhaps not good photographs!), there are now a raft of good magazines and books out there to help you improve
• The web 2.0 phenomenon which promotes contributions from everyone and community spirit has launched great sites to share your photos with others and admire their work - Flickr being the best known, with a specific focus on photography
• The drop in prices for home PCs, data storage and broadband connectivity
• Pretending credit card debt might just go away on its own

What other changes have helped make digital photography so popular?