Inevitable, I suppose. All part of the “march of progress”.
I remember when FM radio was on the ascendency — audiophiles preferred the much higher fidelity of FM over AM broadcasts.
FWIW (and I know it’s not much), I hosted an FM show on my university station, and that eventually led to a stint working as a deejay for a few years. (Less “creative” freedom; but being paid more than made up for that.)
Anyhow, the new technologies are better in many ways. With broadcast radio (AM or FM) there were limits to the number of stations — each became a “natural monopoly”. With a monopoly, you had stifling regulations, and very limited choices of content. Who knows, digital broadcasting might even usher in a new Golden Age of conservative talk radio.
Some points to ponder from some of the comments on The Hollywood Reporter:
The demise of AM/FM radio will result in a lack of public service in real-time ( traffic reports, sports, weather, etc.)
Another said to keep your old AM/FM radios because the day will come when you need “pirate” stations to combat censored information and propaganda.
DAB radios are limited in range whereas with FM you can pick up stations 50 miles away and more.
And this comment was interesting:
“Digital sound is compromised and only contains an approximation of the original sound. My Fisher 800 produces better sound from the local FM station than any CD you play through it. GOVERNMENT MANDATES QUANTITY, NOT QUALITY.