Are CD players dead

Yep. ;)

Goodness, such drama. "Left behind". You store owner makes it sound like the Rapture. There are literally tens of millions of CDs out there, owned by people who will, like LP owners, keep and sell and trade them for years to come. So CD players are going to be with us for very long time yet.

On the other hand, I suspect that new CD manufacture is
going to go the way of new LP manufacture. It won't disappear completely, but it will become a specialty market some day. I think the day will soon be upon us when most new music is only distributed via the Internet - you may choose to copy it on CD, but you will acquire it only in the form of software. So I think it is wise to start to become familiar with what your store owner calls "computer audio".

Yes. Absolutely.

No. IMHO, not for quite awhile.

No, but I wish this question would die. It's been asked in these forums a number of times before, and it's getting to be a bore.

It reminds me of a salesman at Best Buy telling an older couple (a few years back) that their analogue TV is obsolete and they had to buy a new one because the analogue signal was being phased out.

Whatever they can use to scare/control you they will.

Did the store owner at your meeting sell computers?

Just my paraniod mind at work, don't mind me...