Chuck, I think you hit the nail on the head. "The times, they are a changin.." The end hove in sight way back when TV came along and killed Life, Look, etc., etc. Then digital came along and that was the last nail in the coffin. If you can go out and shoot four or five hundred pictures in an afternoon and not have to pay for film or processing, you're almost bound to get something that's saleable, whether you know what you're doing or not. Stock photographs, of course, have to be cliches, because that's what the market understands.
Bill, I wish you all the luck in the world selling finished prints. If you can make a living at it, you should get a medal.