>> Years ago, I dismissed photography as a pretentious hobby that would be rendered obsolete as smartphone cameras and digital improvements became more ubiquitous.

Actually, smartphone cameras make photography even much more accessible. I don't want to sound old, but perhaps you remember 3 or 4 decades ago where all people took pictures with film. It's a limited media (usually 36 frames or less on bigger formats). No instant feedback (have to send them to film lab to be developed or do it on your own darkroom). And for some, indeed photography was a relatively expensive hobby.

Now the barrier is much much lower. Smartphone camera techs are getting better. And you don't need high end PC running Lightroom/Photoshop etc for image editing. Simply use smartphone apps. These are good enough for most of us, social media oriented persons.

Sure, if you want better image quality, eventually you'll upgrade to camera with bigger image sensor (M43, APSC etc) like the pros do.

I'd say smartphone cameras render compact digital point & shoot useless, instead.