To the OP's point, I had one of those "moments" when McIntosh added digital inputs to their 2-channel preamps -- WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!! It was a depressing moment for sure. My concept of "legacy" gear, or modern versions of marketing "legacy" gear, was that the piece would never become obsolete. Low level inputs, MM/MC phono stages, etc. have stood the test of time, and like the tune Yesterday, will probably still be relevant 50 years from now. "Digital" is a moving target. And, like the Apple floppy drive, we'll look back and remember the current digital processing as being as useful today as a fax machine. The trick is how to design around obsolesce, making upgrades doable, without performance issues. This has been the challenge in "upgradable gear" for quite some time.
So, yes, OP, I had my moment.