Great article, Gene, and I don't disagree with anything you wrote, but I am getting a little tired of all the iPod-bashing. These things (and other mp3 players) were designed to be portable, i.e., for when you're taking the bus downtown or going for a walk outside. And with all the background noise coming from traffic and other people, it wouldn't matter if you were listening to an mp3, a CD, or an SACD. You're still going to hear pretty much the same thing.
For me, mp3s haven't replaced CDs, DVDs, DVD-As and SACDs in terms of critical listening. Maybe they have for some people, but I find that hard to imagine. The truth is, most people think of music as something to have playing in the background. Very few people actually sit down and listen intently to a CD anymore -- who has the time for that? They do so while they're doing other things: cooking, surfing the net, working, etc. So if you're not paying full attention to a piece of music, it hardly matters if it's SACD-quality or mp3-quality.
I don't think it's necessarily all these gadgets that have dumbed down audio, it's the way we think of music itself.
Just my opinion.
cheers,
supervij