It's not so much that trading has changed as it is more of a reversion back to trading before algorithms. With these fast and volatile markets, one needs to stay focused and disciplined with trading strategy. You cannot let up on participation when a stock is moving against you. As markets are moving multiple percentage points in a day, opportunity costs can be extremely high. Most of the algorithms out there seem to perform well when volatility is low, but recently they have not been able to keep up. Instead of relying on an algorithm, I have had to get more hands-on, so DMA access has become more valuable than ever.