The reason inking became what it is because comics(before digital) were made for print; now that the digital age is here, most creators still ink to get that "finalized" look for their work and a lot of digital effects look very nice over "inked" work.
A lot of Joe Madureira's latest comics were done in only pencil- he didnt like a lot of inkers' finished looks over his pencils; he felt the inks took away from the crispness of his pencil work.
There are still creators that draw traditionally. Preferably I like my traditional inks better than my digital inks(because they are crisper) but there were days when setting up my inking tools was a nightmare, and doing work digitally IS a lot faster for me.
Now does everyone like reading "pencil only" comics? Some people do, some dont...I also feel with the climate of comics/webcomics being digital or full color now days, if you're doing just pencil or strictly black and white inked books you as a creator need to bring your A++++++ game; you have to be able to manipulate that medium to the point where if people are looking at your work they cant take their eyes off because it's that damn good.