I agree with points 2 and 3 completely. But per point 5, I think the point made by the photographer in the video is that today's tool make it pretty damn easy to get good results even if you DON'T know all that much about how to use the tools. Which means more people with a good eye and heart can capture great content well enough, whereas in the past it was a lot more difficult to get even a competent image out of a lot of cameras. I've run into a lot of damn fine photographers who had AMAZING eyes for composition and a wonderful sense of photographs as images, not just as pictures OF something. But who hadn't ever really been into it enough to master the technical details and with old gear really couldn't get much out of it. The new gear, down to and including cell phone cams, makes it really pretty easy for people like that to be able to start making great images right away. If they later get more into it and learn the techniques to improve their execution, so much the better. But rather than being frustrated by the gear to the point of never really getting to a point of technical competence, now they can start using their hearts and eyes to make great images and possibly move on to make great images that are technically better. I'd rather be those folks with great eyes and meager tech skills than some of the folks with amazing technical skills but no eye or heart. Like the guitarist who can rip your heart out with three notes vs the guy who can play a million notes per second but never goes anywhere with it...
So to me that's a great thing about the democratization of photography. I see writing as a little different - there are really no technical hurdles, it's ALL about content and learning how to make the words work for you. Photography has involved varying degrees of technical hurdles and they're getting smaller and smaller these days. Which I think is a good thing. No, not all of what's produced by "the masses" will be good, but not all of what was produced by the technically adept was good 40 years ago either. But more people can now be competent at it, which means more of the good ones will find their way to it...
-Ray