Are We Talking CDs And CDPs Out Of Existence?

It seems the more we join the "CD is dying camp," the more likely it is to happen. We talk at listening sessions, at club meetings, at expos, on audiophile forums, we go into our dealers just to get opinions, to hear of the trends. Sure, some of our motive is in seeking reassurance that our CD collections and expensive players are still relevant. We are also agonizing over upgrading or abandoning different pieces of gear, but it's this tone of "the end is near" that seems to be hastening the transition. Yes, you can't stop the progress of technology, but there is also the idea of preserving the essence of a hobby. We say computers and files are so much more convenient and compact--forget about convenience--it's a hobby. If it was about convenience, you'd have speakers in your ceilings and a panel on the wall, a remote in your hand, music in every room at the touch of a button, a voice command--a glorified "Clapper." And you'd have that lousy sound to go with it. This is why you have an entire wall of gear--it's a hobby. If you're brewing beer, you don't go to a liquor store just because it's more convenient. Sell the boat and get the fish from the butcher's case. No, forget cooking it, just go out and eat. What, you don't want to get up and look at your collection, don't want to saunter over and put on a new disc, you want to run the whole thing from your lap? We lost knobs to remotes--now you just want a mouse? You're going to turn over that gorgeous fifty-pound player/turntable for a tin CD-ROM? (You'll have to spend for solid state memory, or the moving parts in your computer will be inferior to those in your high-end player.) Hell, forget the computer......there's a box for that and a DAC for the box. You won't have anything to do, nothing to handle or read. I'll take my old-fashioned player with all the memories of having it upgraded several times, the satisfaction of hearing the new plateaus, the assurance of having isolated it from vibration, of building the AC cables and interconnects--all the tweaks that go with big pieces of gear that comprise this hobby............