With the recent mergers and disappearances of well-known and beloved camera manufacturers, it's not a bad thing to be wary and careful when choosing a camera and lenses from a given manufacturer. Will this company still be around in ten years? Still selling the lenses you will need or able to repair/replace the lenses you're using? I think for this reason I would avoid purchasing digital SLRs from certain manufacturers because of the possibility that they or their cameras and lenses won't be around in a few more years due to the changes in the photographic industry.
I think that the 35mm lens will still be used and useful, especially if Nikon follows Canon's lead and eventually develops a full-frame DSLR. In the meantime, yes, even as they've discontinued the majority of their 35mm cameras, they're coming out with more and more VR lenses meant specifically for their line of digital SLRs..... lenses which could not successfully be used on a regular film camera body. The new lenses for the most part are lighter weight, something which is welcome, and of course the VR can help significantly in a heavier lens.
While they're bringing out new models of their digital P&S cameras on a frequent basis, I think that for Nikon and Canon, especially, they see their big money still coming from the sale of DSLRs and the lenses to go with those DSLRs.... hence the arrival and promotion of cameras such as the Digital Rebel and the D70, which subsequently have drawn many more consumers away from the P&S into the DSLR market. With the advent of Nikon's D50 and Canon's newer verson of its Digital Rebel this trend is definitely continuing. And with all of those DSLRs they will want to push lenses: lots and lots of lenses. In many cases people will use existing lenses or buy 35mm lenses to use on their new DSLR, but in other cases the new D50 user would be just as happy to buy the camera body and one or two nice lenses and let it go at that. The new 18-200mm VR is geared towards that consumer as well as towards the photographer who has many lenses but who wants a nice walkaround lens in the kit bag too. Many new DSLR users are not going to be ready or willing to take on the challenge of a six or seven-pound 300mm or 400mm prime lens or a massive zoom which needs to be tripod-mounted for use, hence the newer, smaller, lighter weight lenses with VR....
Me, I'm waiting for a 100-500mm VR that weighs only one pound! LOL!
Just had a thought: in addition to cameras and lenses, there has been a tremendous impact on the part of the industry which sells darkroom equipment. We've already seen the disappearance of some long-popular and loved photographic papers.... I'm sure that sales of darkroom equipment and supplies (enlargers, chemicals, dryers, trays, etc.) have fizzled significantly, although of course we can hope that these items won't go away totally.
