I like your questions and observations. I agree the competition is fierce but I still see most people just raising their camera, snapping and putting it away without even looking to see what they captured. But, even accidentally, the probability of many excellent photos is extreme. It is happening, but most of those excellent photos will likely be seen by very few people, just like on Renderosity. Relatively few ever see the many excellent photos posted here.

Another question is the privacy issue. Now that many phones have cameras, I wonder if the legal reasonable expectation of privacy will soon become a thing of the past. Where are we going anyway?