Well I remember when all cameras were totally manual. The meter suggested correct exposure but you had to make the settings - f-stop and shutter speed.
You learned to focus and to compose a photo.
You learned the relationship between light, film speed, f-stop and shutter speed.
You learned how to control Depth of Field and how to use it effectively and selectively.
You practiced "fast focusing" by standing beside the road and trying to focus on fast moving traffic coming towards you and snapping the shutter at just the right moment.
You learned to "read" a scene based on the light and what you wanted to accomplish and made the necessary changes.
You viewed a scene from different angles and perspectives before you committed a frame of film to it. You learned to see all the extraneous things that could adversely affect your photo. You developed a hatred of litterbugs. You developed an equal dislike of powerlines.
You learned to be selective about what you photographed. After all, you might have only 36 exposures unless you were carrying more film.
You subscribed to two or three photography magazines and read then cover to cover every month. You saved them for future reference.
You took classes and set up a black and white darkroom. You got goosebumps every time a print "came up" in the developing tray. You quickly learned that sepia toning was best done in the garage with doors and windows open (think rotten egg smell) since you were using a sulphur-based compound.
Cameras were made of metal and heavy and felt substantial. My MINOLTA XE-7 weighs 27 ounces without a lens. If attacked I feel confident I can beat the mugger senseless with it and then photgraph his bloody carcass.
Lenses were all glass and metal - and heavy.
You quickly learned to appreciate a comfortable wide neck strap.
You longed to be a Playboy photographer but knew the wife would use the XE-7 to knock some sense into you. :)
You and a friend tried wedding photography as a way to have extra money to buy more cameras and lenses. You paraphrased an old saying into "One can have too many cameras and lenses but one can never have enough."
My only complaint about digital photography is that it - IMO - encourages people to use a "shotgun" approach. They take 500 exposures and then spend hours winnowing out 40 or 50 worth keeping. I think photographers should adopt the old song "Slow down, you move too fast..." as their motto.
I will continue to use film until its no longer available. Am I anti-technology? Of course not. I simply like to practice photography as I have since 1971. Plus I like the looks I get when I'm out with one of my MINOLTA X-700's with a motor drive attached and a 70-210mm zoom. When I cart out my elderly Twin Lens Reflex the looks get even stranger.