This is a very interesting topic.
Photographers working with 4 colour press as their final destination need to learn and get a handle on colour management, gamut limiting, soft proofing, and CMYK conversion. Unfortunately most don't, and thus end up sending a ProPhoto RGB or Adobe RGB file to the printer that has out of gamut colours, and which provides the operator with a huge headache and sometimes poor results.
Pre-press technicians know how to scan film and correct the output for their presses, but many have yet to learn how to take a wide gamut digital file and convert it appropriately. It's less work than scanning film, but film is something they've done for years vs digital files which are something they may still be unfamilar with. So they tell their bosses that digital can't produce as good results on press as does film.
And on the photographer side of the equation with more photographers taking charge of pre-press file preparation who don't really understand what's required of them, you end up with unhappy clients.
The problem to my mind isn't the technology, it's people.
Michael