The CD player is dead.......

Nice summary, Knownothing.

In short, lots of options for everyone.

And, if you look at the history of recorded music, the one constant has been change. No format has ever had an unchallenged, unlimited run and never will.

Music boxes were the hot item in the early 1800s, but they had precedents going back hundreds of years. Later in the 19th century one had player pianos.

Wax cylinders were the first recording/playback devices, which gave way to 78 phono records in the early 1900s. Wire recorders popped up, but we acquired the open reel recorder from Germany after WWII. 1948 brought the LP record, the 1970s brought the invasion of the music cassette and 1980 the CD.

And here we are today. I guess the message is don't get too comfortable. Things will change whether you want them to or not.

Knownothing - Original question wasn't about CD but rather CDP. I still buy CDs new and used but enjoy convenience of the server.

Did IQ's just drop sharply since I have been in the Rubber Room? Do I need more Shock Treatment because I don't believe Consumers should DEMAND lower and lower Sound Quality? Do I need more Shock Treatment because I believe objects fall down, not up?
I don't believe that I have mentioned PRICE even once! I believe that I have been harping on SOUND QUALITY, as in the LACK there of! A portion of Edison's Inventions were indeed failures. Well no wonder he gave up on the Light Bulb. No wonder we should have given up on the Airplane, and the Telephone too! You know there were actually people back then who believed as much. Nice to know that they are alive and well in the "21ST CENTURY", demanding that we give up on Sound Quality as well. How does that work? If God had wanted Man to hear in High Fidelity, he would have given him bigger ears? This is the type of crap that you are trying to sell me?
The CD is NOT dead, and it will never be dead. It won't because it is MY WEDGE to make damn sure that whatever replaces it offers BETTER Sound Quality. Why?
L-E-V-E-R-A-G-E! After the failures of SACD, and DVD Audio the Industry is scared to death of the next Format. They better damn well be because they ALWAYS knew that SACD/DVD Audio didn't REALLY offer better Sound Quality. They have only ONE CHANCE to get it right next time. Do I get upset when someone wants to throw away ANY Leverage that Consumers might have to demand better Sound Quality? Lets kill the CD, and just blindly accept whatever Sound Quality gets handed to us? Well, what exactly makes us Audiophiles? What exactly makes us any different from some poor shmuck still listening to 8-track? We weren't satisfied with the Sound of CD when it first came out, why are we so anxious to do the exact opposite with the CD's replacement? What the Sam Hell is the difference? The Computer Industry doesn't KNOW what an Audiophile or High Fidelity is. THEY ARE NOT READY to replace the CD! Not untill they get their head out of a dark place!

Pettyofficer - Take it easy. Nobody wants to get you or take away your CDs. I'm not sure what you call computer audio but in my setup I cannot hear the difference between computer playback over Airport Express and directly connected transport. For some reason you assume that server based system has to sound inferior.

As for SACD or DVD Audio - they don't care. We don't represent any buying power. They tried to introduce format that cannot be copied (SACD) and found out that most people are perfectly happy with MP3 and boom boxes.

Kijanki, I still don't know why I am NOT getting through! I am NOT afraid that someone is going to take away my CD's. That is NOT it at all! I want the SAME scrutiny applied to Music Storage that was applied to the CD Format when it first came out, the same scrutiny that should be applied to ANY new Format to replace an old Format. It was only after years of scrutiny, after Manufacturers were finally convinced that existing CD's weren't perfect sound forever, that any progress was even attempted to improve on that Format. Of course this cuts into Corporate Profits, and we can't have that! Ditto for the Computer Industry and Music Storage. You think that I assume that server based system has to sound inferior, it doesn't! The limiting factor on how good a server based system sounds comes from the Computer Industry itself, not me! The Industry has an attitude of, "Hey Pal, it's just what you see"! It is the same attitude another Industry had when CD was first released with, "Perfect Sound Forever". I see how we as consumers dealt with that attitude in the past. Why give the Computer Industry a free pass? We behaved like Audiophiles scrutinizing the new Format of CD when first released. No-one said, hey, if you don't like CD's
,don't buy them. Otherwise, you don't have a right to complain. Why the double standard whenever anyone tries to scrutinize Music Storage? I KNOW that the Computer Industry can do better, and you do as well. There exists NO motivation for the Computer Industry to improve on Music Storage, unless ALL Industries fear that most Consumers will hold on to their CD's no matter what new Format is created. Isn't THAT what most Consumers did with SACD, and DVD Audio? I believe the reason was that SACD/DVD-Audio only SOUNDED slightly better than CD, NOT that SACD/DVD-Audio was only more or less CONVENIENT than CD! So don't tell me that Consumers don't make value judgements about Sound Quality! Well, that is EXACTLY what the Computer Industry is saying. These are the people who you are going to trust to replace the CD? Someone has to say, "NOT GOOD ENOUGH, KEEP WORKING ON IT"! Not, "WELL...IF IT IS JUST WHAT I SEE, I GUESS THAT I HAVE TO JUST TAKE IT"! Lets make sure that we hammer anyone who complains about any lack of Sound Quality. Something the Industry should have done when the first CD came out, instead of allowing Public perception drive us to improve severely cutting into our profits! Can't allow that to happen again!