Was the audio line in good enough for most users, especially home users? Yes. Was the audio line in used by most professionals? No.
Keeping the analog signal as far away as possible from any potential source of interference is a good thing. Routing an analog cable over and around disks and power supplies and such can not have a good effect on the signal. Getting it digital as soon as possible can only help.
Conversely, I have looked at and tried quite a few of the USB & FW enabled audio devices out there in the market (including the iMic) and am not impressed at all.
Well you do get want you pay for 😉
No where in my post did I say this was a good thing on Apple's part, I said it was a potential benifit (emphasis added). I too am sorry to see it go, I use it extensively on my personal machine for digitizing my record collection. At some point I will need to buy a new system and the cost of an external A/D converter will have to be added to the cost of the machine as will the cost for a DVD drive.
I do have to say however that this is the first time any post of mine has been called Balderdash, at least in such a lyrical way.
regards