I am not sure what the author is talking about. I don't think these digital prints are really showing something that can't be done in an optical darkroom. They do have more of a "digital" aesthetic, which seems to shy away from the shadows, but they are not actually groundbreaking.
Naturally, a critique of printing technology is kind of a strange topic. Would he comment on the books containing Evan's work. After all, they are not silver prints and duo and tri-tone printing can make similar adjustments to the tonal distribution.