Ham radio is far from dead. There are many new hams coming on the air all the time. There are new modes of operation like D-STAR which allows you to talk around the world on a HT or if there are no D-Star repeaters in your area, you can get a DV-Dongle or DVAP which can connect across the internet to other repeaters or Reflectors.
There is a live D-STAR broadcast on the internet right now at http://w5kub.com which is explaining all the different features of D-Star operations.
There are digital modes like JT65, or JT9 which allow you to make contacts around the world with 1 watt or even less depending on band conditions. There are other digital modes like PSK, RTTY, and many others. Computers can also play a big part in ham radio with Software Developed Radios (SDR) which control the actual radio hardware on systems like the Flex radios. Computers can do your logging, DX spotting, and more. The ham radio hobby is alive and growing, the reports of ham radios death are greatly exaggerated.