How has the discipline of photography impacted digital graphic design?

The answer provided in this question comes from one of my most favorite contributors of the Graphic Design category I supervise on WikiAnswers, known as Jmowreader.  He provides a lot of significant answers to many graphic design related questions there that which are of superb quality and insight.

His take on this question:

[...] Executive summary: Affordable digitized photos have made it possible for more publishers to use more photos and more color than ever before, which enables them to attract more readers.  The flipside is the quality of the photos being used has gone straight to hell, but you can put a lot more of them in the book than you did in the old days. [...]

Jmowreader tells us about how photos were taken and printed into media, such as magazines, back in the old days throughout the years compared to how this process is done today.  Click here to read the remainder of his article.