Now ANYone can publish their own e-book
3D printing comes to mind. How long will it be before ANYONE can print ANYTHING...for free?

But is the average writer better off or worse off than they were when manuscripts had to pass all manners of editors and standards to be published?

The average writer (like you or me) never got noticed. If what they wrote wasn't politically correct and went thru an agent it was never read, much less published.

At one time the Hugo Awards were recommendations for good Science Fiction. I've been reading scienfiction since the late fifties. Now the Hugos are anti recommendations...what NOT to buy...unless you like to read sermons.

Were the royalties better?

You only got royalties if you were published...(see above)