So now it's two opinions rolled into one, or rather the same opinion articulated twice. You can keep saying it Ears, and pointing to the postings of others who share that opinion, but it's still just that...an opinion, although, truth be told, I always think that others who share my opinion are smarter than most 
Once again it's not the opinion but the hardheaded "it's not an opinion, it's the truth" attitude I find amusing.
Any thoughts as to whether or not the Red Book CD will last forever, ...
My opinion is that every home should have sa-cd and dvd-a or any other format that shows improvement over exsisting standards but that doesn't change anything now does it ?
Your comparison of hi rez to hdtv is not even close ....hdtv offers an obvious improvement that every consumer can see whith there eyes and eventually will be available at a reasonable cost in the U.S. like it has been elsewhere in the world for at least a decade.
A better comparison would be dvd-v.
As somone who purchased one of the first dvd-v players, I can tell you after 4 years they were available everywhere for renting or purchase and had become a household name by then.
This is because you can see the difference on a cheap 20 inch tv and no hi end or mid fi gear is required to go along whith it to get the benifits.
In other words more people[mass market] are into dvd-v because of the picture quality and not just the sound.
Now you take hi rez which requires a lot more of an investement to hear what you and I hear as a major improvement on a decent recording and the masses will never pony up that kind of money.
Do you honestly belive that Joe and Jane average are going to buy into hi rez whith no digital output....if they wanted hi rez to even stand a chance at mass market appeal, they would have a digita output by now on more than just one model...and it would also need to be universal.
Part of the blame for hi rez formats crawling along at a snails pace is marketing, the other problem is that the free music concept has become ingrained in the average consumers brain....regardless of age.
Again...there is no free competition for dvd-v either or hdtv like there is for music.
I have sold players at a-gon that cost up to 3k and rarely have a sale whithout somone asking if the player plays cdr's.
It is not just kids whith little income that are into free music.
I will continue to support hi rez regardless and hope that a niche market keeps it alive but have no illusions of mass appeal just because you/I know that it is an improvement as we are part of that niche group.
All I have to say about cd is...nothing lasts forever.
