These days exactly none of that is true - the work has become MUCH simpler.
You don't have the faintest fucking clue what you're talking about. A digital camera doesn't magically process your photos for you - you still have to go through every shot, make your selections & then go about developing your RAWs into something presentable. You still have to go & scope your locations & plan your shots. You still have to spend time getting to know your clients, so you can capture the style & feeling that they're looking for. You still have to spend a shit-ton on equipment, redundant equipment, insurance, assistants, etc. etc.
The only difference technology has made is the ability to review your shots in the moment & allow more shots to be taken.
Yes, that helps a lot, but it also means that we're now able to push photography far further than was even possible before. It means that you'll be able to get far more for your money than you would have done in the days of film.
Copyright also works exactly the way it always used to, you're just confusing the two methods a photographer uses to bill for their work: per print, or per hour/day/etc.
I used to perform in a lot of sports competitions & if you wanted to purchase a photo, the price would depend on what size print you wanted. If you wanted to buy the photo & copyright outright, it would be a different price than simply buying a 4x3. Photographers aren't contracted for these events, they earn their money by selling prints.
If you contract a photographer & pay them for their time, then (unless you agree otherwise) you will retain the rights over the material they create during that period.
To draw an analogy with the IT world, it's like buying a single-site licence for a web template & then demanding that you get sole use. No, if you want to buy it outright, you pay for it.
You do get some cowboys who try to milk their fees by selling overpriced CDs, etc. But that's because they're cowboys trying win contracts by undercharging & then heaping on a bunch of other hidden costs. That's not the photographer's fault, that because there are people out there who expect the moon on a stick for $300. Fuck that!