I think technology has mainly impacted the business in that trends seem to boom much quicker now... The massively easy connectivity that the internet facilitates has allowed trends to emerge on a global scale - Something that was much rarer before the internet was commonplace. If anything that has dulled the edge off design now... There seems to be less creativity and more relentless playing on a particular theme that is popular at a given time (read: shiny text, drop shadows, tic-tacs, reflections etc at the moment).
Just my thoughts.
David