I certainly hope the BS9000 will be produced for a long time, along with the compact disc school of thought.
As for the BS5 and other things of its ilk, I am very leery and a and apprehensive of the "lossless files" technology. Compression, compression, compression - where less becomes more. To me, it remains to be heard whether a lossless file sounds the same as an AIFF - and then to pump this stuff through state of the art processors, amps, and speakers (a waste, don't you think?) This thread prompted me to read up on the BS5 and also research Wikipedia (for what its worth) on the lossless file concept. Simple is actually very complicated. Again, "lossless" remains to be heard. We'll just have to hold them side by side and listen.
I currently use iTunes where I can load AIFF, AAC, or Apple Lossless. Music is streamed to Airports which connect to a set of BeoLab3 in one room, BeoLab4000 in another, and also to a Krell>McIntosh>Bowers and Wilkins setup in the living room. I use compressed files only as a convenience.
When I seriously want to listen to some good audio, on comes the 9000. Other times, good old vinyl is piped through a Dual 1229>Grado>ProJect setup. I think there is definitely an audible difference between vinyl and compact disc.
As for album art and all those good things that are programmed into a device like the BS5, which also remembers the type of music you like, Apple has the same album art and a similar thing called Genius, which also remembers the type of music you like. In contrast, CDs and vinyl have the tangible and tactile aspect of holding and owning a piece of music in your hand, and literature about the artist and educational program notes about the music to boot.
IMHO, a transition from a BS9000 to a BS5 is analogous <sic> to the transition from vinyl to compact disc.
May I be bold enough (and risk being kicked off this site) to say the BS5 is a very stylish IPOD?
BeoSound 9000, Beolab 8000, BeoLab 4000. Beogram 4002/Grado Gold Amina conversion.