This is how it happened

The art of storytelling is one that has captivated human audiences since before the dawn of civilization. For thousands of years, anywhere there was a fire or a settlement, stories were being exchanged. They could have been about the last hunt, or a story of whatever deity the people believed in at the time, the specifics we will never know. The tales may have offered visions of an individual's mind, a caution, a learning experience, or about the heroics someone offered on the battlefield. It was a transfer of knowledge, from one generation to the next, and it worked just fine for several thousand years.
However in the time that I have at least been alive, I have heard of very few of these tales. Of course we hear the occasional cautionary tale when we are little, but once we reach a certain age, we almost have to learn for ourselves. Fiction still exists, but rarely do you see a group of high school kids sitting around making up a story for pure entertainment. In my time here in college (less than 3 weeks mind you), I think I have heard more stories relating to the subject that I did in my entire 4 years of high school. But what bothers me most that has disappeared are the war stories passed on. Stories that told of battles fought far from home, of leaders we never knew but somehow understood. Epic tales of campaigns that lasted years, perhaps decades, all gloriously told entirely by word of mouth.
I think these tales have started to fade, leading to gaps in history. War is no longer as honorable a profession it once was. I suppose this is both a good and bad thing. Instead, the honor has been replaced by trauma and psychological damage. Today you would be hard pressed to find a veteran of the Vietnam Conflict who would be willing to tell his story. In stark contrast, two hundred years ago, a Revolutionary War Veteran might tell the same story of the same battle over and over again ad nauseum. The history lost to the trauma of war must be tremendous over the years, but from where I stand, the loss of history only seems to be getting worse, despite the advent of the Internet and widespread technology.
What will the next generation listen to when sitting around a fire out on a camping trip? What will they talk about when they meet someone new? Has the art of storytelling died with technology, or does it live on in some other sense that we haven't yet recognized?