Slate runs an article on two new formats for digital audio, DVD-A and SACD (Super Audio CD) (Put the Compact Disc Out of Its Misery). The article touts the higher fidelity of the newer standards, which approach studio quality.
The article notes rightly that these formats are unlikely to develop a mass market anytime soon as both deny users a digital output. Who wants to return to the days when music was stuck in physical formats? The article wrongly disfavors the fact that the new formats are the same size as existing CDs and DVDs. I don't care that the physical disks are the same size. In fact, it makes it easier for me (as a consumer) to use the disks, which store nicely alongside my CDs and DVDs. Manufacturers will find it easier to create drives for the disks and multiuse drives are also possible. The real issue is the one about being able to get a digital output. If you could rip the disks to a hard drive, the size of the original disk wouldn't matter at all.
However, the article struck me as strangely oblivious to the content industry. Although the issue of analog only outputs was raised, there was no mention of DRM. Yes, there there is a "manufacturer's consensus" to prohibit digital outputs, but that consensus rests on the fact that the copyright industry refuses to transition to new formats that do not include such restrictions. The article also touts both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as visionary supporters of the "digital hub" (aka the media server in the closet) without mentioning that while Steve Jobs gave us "Rip, Mix, Burn" as a motto, Gates gave us WinXP Media Edition, as chock full of DRM as could be.