For what it's worth, I bought a Pentax K10D today. I admit
that I was attracted to it since I have some some (purely
mechanical) lenses which will fit it (K-bayonet mount). However,
after reading several tests and comparisons, I came to the conclusion
that, in the $1000 price range (these days, that will buy 10 MP and an
objective), it seems a good bet even for someone who has no investment
in Pentax-compatible lenses. I think it is fair to say that no
other company offers more bang for the buck in this price range; I don't
think anyone else even comes close. Also, the K10D has, in addition to
automatic modes, several semi-automatic modes (fix what you want fix
and let the automatic adjust the rest) and a completely manual mode. So,
for folks (like me) who have never owned a point-and-shoot digital compact
(or any other digital camera, for that matter), but have been using SLRs
with film for decades, this camera might actually be easier to start out
with and one has the possibility to compose shots in the traditional manner,
if one so desires. Yes, Canon and Nikon have a larger user base, but for
someone who will buy a digital camera and 2 or 3 lenses now and use it for
10 or 15 years (or even longer---for many applications, increased camera
quality won't translate to increased quality of the end product, so why
upgrade?) and is interested in getting a very good camera for a very good
price (Canon or Nikon cameras with similar features cost 2 or 3 times as
much, and there might not even be one with all the features the K10D has),
then I think the K10D deserves a serious look.

I think this is an interesting time to buy a digital SLR. It wasn't that
long ago, as you pointed out, that there were still many reasons to go
with film. For a while now, that has no longer been true, and within the
last year or so, prices have come down so that the serious amateur can
get something for 1000-1500 dollars which will deliver quality similar to
what he has been used to with film. (Again, in terms of bang-for-the buck
and overall quality, I think the K10D is impossible to beat.)

What about the future? Will prices come down even more? Probably not; what
will happen is that the price for cameras of this quality (serious amateur, say;
yes, one can spend $10000 for a top-level Nikon, but a) who needs it and b) it
is not 10 times better than the K10D) will stabilise at what it is now or a bit
cheaper, and more and more features will appear (like with PCs or mobile phones).
For those who don't need more bells and whistles, and don't want them since they
distract (and in some cases more pixels is not always a good thing, but it might
be difficult to find a camera with only 10 MP 5 years from now), now is the time
to buy. (For me, this stage was reached about 5 or 6 years ago with mobile phones.
I bought a Nokia 3310 then, and like it and the 3330 so much that I am collecting
them so that if mine dies I can continue to use another one, rather than be forced
to "upgrade" to something with more features which, for me, only distract.)