History of Photography

I recently bought Photography The Definitive History by Tom Ang, I can highly recommend this for anyone who really has a love for photography (Which I would hope would be 100% of the photographers in here, as you gotta have the passion for the trade)
It does what it says and goes through the ages of photography, the pictures, the equipment, styles etc etc, It drills down into some of the all time great photographs and it got me thinking, When these shots were taken, did the shooter think "Thats going to be a classic" or was it just 1 of many taken that day, will some of the shots we see on here be looked at with the same fondness that we look back on our forefathers shots or is the trade drowning in all the mobile selfies. I think (And hope) that photos are so throw away these days that only the best will stand the test of time and in 100 years or so we wont be drowning in photos of early 21st century, there will still only be so many that have lasted like there is now from the pioneers.