Should Sound Quality of Computer Audio be improved

Chadeffect- "It is not down to you! Can I decide if I'd
like the latest Porn Film to be in real 3D? No, I cannot.
Can I decide if the latest Star Wars movie is released in
Omnimax, or Imax? No, I cannot. Does it matter? probably
not".
Alright, lets go with that. Based on this- who decides
"It is the Music that matters"? You would leave it to
Recording Studio/ Record Company/ Producers/ and Artists, to the exclusion of the Consumer himself. One little
problem: as a Consumer you are in competition with atleast
the Record Company/ Producers over Sound Quality. It is the
nature of any Market (Especially the Audio Market) that
the Consumer must struggle, and fight with the Manufacturer
over Quality. I.E.- "Let the buyer beware"! Are you in
business (As a Consumer) for yourself to get as much Sound
Quality Bang-for-the-Buck? I am! Are you instead in
business (As a Consumer) for the Manufacturer to benefit
from you getting less Bang-for-the Buck? Multiple Formats-
mutiple sources of High Sound Quality. Single Format- single source of High Sound Quality. Who benefits, who
loses, and who benefits at someone elses expense? I don't
know about you, but I am coming up short on multiple sources of High Sound Quality with a single Format solution. Does it matter? I am in business for myself as a
Consumer. My business is higher selection of higher Audio
Sound Quality. The more sources of this (Formats), the
more my business profits. Fewer sources, and someone else
profits off of my business. You fill in the blank of who
you believe that might be. We still have options unless you
decide to give those options up! When you give those options up, you don't get them back if you discover that
"Things don't work out as you planned". You giving up
options (Multiple Formats) also means that I have to give up these same options. There is no vacuum here in the Audio
Market. Everything we do directly affects someone else in
the Market. Does it matter? PROBABLY SO!!! Tell me how many
times you have already heard me say this? You offer nothing
to contradict this. Your arguement is simply one of
convenience for yourself. My arguement is one to benefit the Consumer in the Audio Market- of which I happen to be one of them. You can't say "It is the Music that matters",
and "Does it matter? Probably not" in the same breath. THAT
is HYPOCRACY 101! What Barometer do you use to measure Sound Quality with, the increased Profit Margin of the stock for your favorite Computer Audio Manufacturer? I guess those ears no longer serve any purpose, just donate
them to science. Just don't try to put that on the rest of
us. Your single Format solution, as a benefit to the
Consumer, just "DOES NOT COMPUTE"! Recheck your Math, or
do it through personal attacks on me. We need no stinking
Math, right?

If PO's argument is based on the general dummying down of America's mass market consumers, then I think he has a valid argument.

Luckily, that has been going on forever, and where there is enough market and interest (like hopefully in good sound) there is still quality to be found.

I neither expect that market to keep pace with the mass market nor for it to decrease in size itself moving forward. It will likely continue to grow in terms of revenue but become an increasingly small niche market.

It will be what it will be. Neither corporate conspiracy theories nor faith in open markets will change anything.

PO,

I don't see your logic. Are you assuming that the artist wants their music to sound bad? They want you to hear them sound mediocre? They want to go out of business?

The point is recording quality is higher than ever. There is a possibility of it going to the final frontier with the latest non PCM digital systems. Sure.

So how do you not get better SQ? (engineering/mastering choices aside)

How are you not getting value? You don't even have to drive to the shop.

Hypocracy? I didn't say sound quality doesn't matter. I am trying to let you see that the quality is already better than ever, and what we are talking about are subtle differences. Differences in sample rates you will hardly ever know, as the recording is the recording. Those choices were made by the record producer. It's all about the recording. Not just the sample rate.

You will never know what the same guys would have sounded like recorded via a different system. You just have what they recorded. And now without extra processes.

I dont really understand your profit argument? I haven't noticed records getting more expensive. I see a new way that records are sold. More direct than ever.

I don't understand your quip at computer manufacturing profit? Seems you were happy giving cash to a guy selling a CD player.

Thanks again Hfisher3380, not too many worries about the initial pitfalls for me though - I'm currently far too broke to make all my mistakes first with cash anyway (my situation normal). And I firmly believe that time is on my side and there's no real rush to come to an effective understanding of it all right away, I can bide my time and learn - which for me is really nothing new when it comes to audio anyway. And as for the work, well, I'm a longtime, diehard tweaker already. But, I do appreciate your response all the same. I've always had the awareness that this would be the next thing...yeah, I'm sure discs will go away eventually, but I'm not panicking in the meantime and I want to thank all of you for giving me a lot to look at as I go along.

Can we all just agree that Petty needs to develop his own stinkin format... he's the engineer... (drives trains)
I just don't understand why he continually beats down us dummy's that aren't smart enough to do this computer stuff properly.... Petty, Please, Please, Please fix it and save us all.