A few factors have converged I think:
First when book production was a more specialized, difficult, professional task the people laying out books were more well versed in printing and different printing processes to make the finished book special. Now many photographers do their own layout and so there is less input on the unique printing processes that are available or can be employed to bring something different to it. It's a faster process, and adobe indesign isn't going to say "have you thought about having that stamped or diecut or run as a duotone - I saw a book that I always kept on my shelf because it was done with ... "
Second the internet and ship-everything culture has made price comparison a predominant aspect in selecting a printer. In the past, there was more tendency to work with one or two printers more closely.
Third, the economic climate right now has many printers trying to undersell eachother to keep the presses and their workers working. CMYK printing prices have fallen and so color process printing is so economic that there isn't as much demand to keep other processes running, and they become more expensive due to lack of volume, space to keep equipment that isn't making money, etc.
But if you look, you can still find letter press shops and older skilled shops running work that's not another CMYK print.
I appreciate both. I hope some of the old processes aren't relegated to the shelf, but on demand and tight automated process printing that everyone can afford brings new possibilities too.
