Thom Hogan and the iPhone effect

The "problem" (if there's any) is that, at least some, people have more and more money in western countries. One could say, too much money.
Even the so-called recession have done nothing but accentuating this phenomenon.

"In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. Financial inequality was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the population owning 42.7%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%. However, after the Great Recession which started in 2007, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grew from 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Americans grew from 85% to 87.7%."

This is just for the American population, and 20% of the Americans makes a lot of people.

For those people, spending 3'000USD on a camera is easier than ever. That and the fact digital photography has gained a lot popularity due the digital era and the ubiquity of cameras in smart-phones makes buying a product such as the D800 a normal expense for millions of people.

No doubt that cameras such as the D800 will be a success and that some professional photographers will be jealous to see their privilege to play with high-end cameras vanish in the crowd of amateurs, tarnishing their aura.