Wouldn't that be phrased better as "a part of the" instead of just "the". The definite article alone directs the connotation towards exclusivity.

By definition?

Yes, because there totally aren't any sailboats around now that steamboats and motorboats got invented.

And people definitely don't go and watch plays and operas live anymore now that they can do so in their living room with a TV.

You need a better dictionary..

Sailboats are luxury items, dude. People aren't forced to use sailboats. In fact, instead of 100% of ships being sailboats, I'd gander only 5% or less are sailboats.

5% of the sailboat market is pretty significant - as is 5% of the computer market. In fact, iirc, Apple has been making solid profits from round about 5% of the laptop market.

Anyway, I was merely illustrating that "the future of" does not mean "the sole replacement of".

And my counter point was that both your Opera/Theater and Sailboat analogy prove his point.

Motor/Steam boats are now used where Sailboats were used, 100% of the time.

TV/Movies have replaced Opera/Theater for mainstream entertainment.