the continued dumbing down

I listen to MP3 format music on my son's earbuds and I want to cry.

I especially note the irony in the sentence:

"But the sound quality of digital audio files is noticeably inferior to that of compact discs and even vinyl."

MP3s are inferior EVEN TO VINYL!!!!

the dark ages are upon us

Convenience trumphs quality every time, it's the American way.

gentlemen:

discussing something of which you have no control is counter productive. live and let live.
the world would be a better place if people were more tolerant isntead of judgmental.

do not judge until you have walked in someone else's shoes.

this topic is not worth discussing.

it is better to accept that which cannot be changed.

Instead of preaching to the choir, use the Contact Us link on the CNN page and reference the article, registering your disagreement.

First the letter was replaced by the fax...

i still feel there's a hidden message/meaning in the article that can be interpreted as useful or instructional. first of all, there's no argument that advances in science (nano-technology?) may/probably will make music and video storage smaller and more portable, or convenient, or whatever. but i don't see science developing ear-buds or headphones that can rival a superbly-designed pair of good ol' speakers, whether they're monitors or floorstanders, especially incorporating a decent amount of space (i.e. a nice room) to move the air around in a pleasing manner. unless you want to argue that there will someday be a device small enough to implant inside your skull to stimulate the otic nerve (which is a terrific idea for the hearing-impaired of course), the guy sitting in the chair with his hair blowing backwards is a paradigm for, imho, an experience that is not only good for playing 3 minute songs, but is also useful for ALL kinds of music, including the stuff that requires 1.concentration on the part of the listener and 2.considerable technology to sound convincingly real. anyway, things may come full circle when people come to want more than just a good beat, but the arrangement and timbre of the notes that come in-between. furthermore, the last time i went into a music store (which wasn't that long ago) and asked the keyboard salesman if ANYTHING he carried sounded
like an acoustic piano, including scores of the latest computerized yamahas, korgs, rolands, etc., he simply said "not even close".

according to stereophile's poll, most audiophiles don't spend jack on prerecorded music. its no wonder its going away. this 'listening' hobby was hijacked by 'looking' and 'touching' anyway.

"That 128 is pretty darn good. A lot of Ph.D.s went in to making that 128 kbps work well and sound well."

Yeah, a lot of Ph.D.s also are involved in designing nuclear weapons, doesn't mean they should be used;)