Percy's paper on the role of visual observations

http://www.aavso.org/ejaavso199

A must-read.
If you are still wondering if visual observations are needed in the 21th Century, the answer is yes.

There are CV outbursts to catch, new SNe to discover, more long-term trends to be found, more eclipses to be caught.

For those who dare to deal with small amplitude stuff, Be-star outbursts (GCAS) are also interesting. Let me give you an example:
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/~dam3ma/benews/volume40/whap/otero1.html

Mu Centauri in outburst, detected visually. Last week the star had faded from its first peak but my skies have been clouded by more than a week so I don't know if it has re-brightened or not.

Cheers,
Sebastian