On digital cameras I think prices will drop some more and/or more features will be added. Or maybe quality will continue to improve for about the same amount of money. It's always worth waiting (if you can live without it) when we are talking technology.
On Film Film will be around for a long time to come. There are too many cameras out there to shut it down. People said the same thing about Polaroid cameras and I can still get film for my SX70 Land Camera. The analogy to CDs and Records may not be an entirely good one. CD's are a vast improvement over records and tapes. Most of my records were scratched my tapes give off a hiss. I was happy to replace them. Afterall CDs are noise free, almost industructible, very inexpensive to make and buy and pretty much last forever. Digital cameras on the other hand are not "better" than film cameras as far as quality goes. They are a very expensive item (unlike a $12 CD) and they do not have an unlimited lifespan. Let's face it, buying the digital camera is the first of many expensive choices you need to make. (Upgraded computer, expensive flash cards....) Digital camera sales will continue to grow. If they have not already overtaken sales of film cameras they soon will. I think film cameras will co-exist with digital for many many years to come. That said digital will slowly take over as the "film" of choice. A camera store owner I know says in a few years people will begin to miss their film cameras when they realize that all those digital images have been lost or are stored somewhere in their computers. Although people can make prints from digital, they tend not to. Vic
