Would vinyl even be invented today?

You might be right ZD. The bottom line, most people are just
not concerned about quality sound reproduction, period.
Audiophiles are an extreme minority and vinylphiles, even less.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy vinyl immensely and am anxiously
awaiting a new phono stage. But again, I agree with those that
its just a passing fad. Lot more hipsters out there than us.

Its not about being a "hipster", many/ most Americans have a COMPULSION to buy what is considered cool in the circle they roll with. The American dream is defined solely by consumption. It ain't complicated.

Lp cover art...can't roll a joint on an iPod!

The core of the vinyl movement is not post modern ironic hipsters...that is the resurgence aspect...the faithful are those that didn't pitch their Lps in the 80s when cassettes peaked and CDs broke...but hey, if it takes kids in flannel, pbr caps, and mustaches to keep the dream alive...so be it!

Go to computer audio dominated forums and look at the vast amount of posters who have obtained their first high res download and are completely unaware they need software that supports the format. These folks are not interested in quality sound reproduction. Afraid they are just hipsters.

Really? I don't think I've seen this. I doubt many hipsters but HD files, in fact I think very few people buy HD audio files. I imagine Chesky wishes HD Tracks annual sales were that of iTunes sales of Taylor Swift.

People that call themselves audiophiles are a strange group. There are those that love music and like it on good equipment and enjoy that, then there are those that have the "best" system and the rest are junk. Those are the ones that spend more on the equipment than the media that goes into. It seems like two very different camps.