The future of preamps

They'll evolve and stick around for a good while but I would not invest in analog ones. Various forms of digital pre-amps have a healthy future in store still I suppose in various forms only a small % of which will remotely resemble what most of us would recognize as a traditional hifi analog pre-amp.

"Might be controlled from ones phone."

I can control my Squeezebox Touch device (which includes
digital volume) wirelessly from any mobile device including
phone or tablet on my home wifi network today.

The technology exists to control anything from a phone
today. All that is needed is a market.

I use a pre-amp mainly because I have analog source (phono
and tape) in addition to digital. It may sound better this
way as well. Never tried it without the (tube) pre-amp), so
don't know.

Even if direct does not sound sound as good as with pre-amp
in my case, I see no reason why a separate pre-amp is
required for better sound. It may or may not be better
case by case it seems to me.

"So far all digital products have had a short shelf life as digital continues to evolve. Analog is a bit more stable design-wise."

No doubt.

I always wait as long as I can even to buy my next home computer because I know the longer I wait the more I will get for my investment. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

THis thread is a good example of why so few people are interested in high end audio, even if they love music and can afford it.

PEople just want their stuff to work and sound good, especially when making a sizable investment. Not be required to have a degree in EE in order to be able to cut through all the noise and be criticized when things go bad for whatever reason.

However hard it may be to figure out what works when things are going as they should, it pales in comparison to understanding why things break or malfunction or do not perform as advertised. All the facts needed to make such determinations are usually not known or apparent. That's why it's called an "accident".

Also why there is no substitute for good customer service, especially in an expensive hobby like this, and why no product can be successful over teh long term without it.