Outside some niche uses, digital video really does make general sense. I hear and often agree with analog arguments. I keep analog gear, and in my own hardware projects will stay analog, perhaps also having digital, depending.
But, overall? People largely benefit more from digital video, and with the loss of the CRT, adoption makes sense. Digital only gear makes sense. I have no concerns and can easily use an analog adapter in a pinch.
With audio, it is inverted! A few niche uses benefit, most do not. They are equal or very modest gain at best.
Video gear seems to age out more quickly too. Increases in resolution drive all that, and analog limits do too. Above HDTV 1920x1080, analog has real issues.
Analog audio does not have those dynamics. There is no analog cliff to drive digital gear. Great stuff from the 70's remains entirely relevant. It always will. Ears are just not like eyes.
I will never, ever buy something that only delivers audio digitally.
I think you are right about the DRM.
It will prove to be a waste of time. Audio is too easy. Seriously.
Heck, I can make something to just write the stream to a file, and doing that is not hard. Costs less than a CD.
Not so easy if the analog signal only emerges at the earpiece ...
This analog hole is a ridiculously easy hack job with a soldering iron.
"Ridiculously Easy"? - I wouldn't go that far, but very much within the realms of possibility for a determined attacker I'd say.
But down the line .. as actual physical countermeasures become more sophisticated maybe not so.
That's pretty much a policy. If I pay for it, fine. But I have it in generally useful form. No lock-in. Or I don't buy it.
And I don't mind hacking to get it in general useful form. Easy peasy.
To me, a bit of work, perhaps gain a new skill?
Not only easy, but fun, cheap, all that.
What is hard is having to spend or do work just because of a business model. I really dislike all of that. It is visceral.
Then the fiction we all read about illegal implants will be reality.
I went online to get some help with what was revealed to be the infamous touch-ic issues, and I was told off in so many ways ("that's an old model, you should really get the new one", "if you get flexion based damage, you are using your phone wrong", "wow, another bend-gater. Stop bending your damn phone!").
This was after internal apple documents showed that they were aware of flexion damage before the phone was released to market.
I can see why someone who's never used wired earbuds wouldn't care one way or another, but I really don't understand this sort of attachment.
This, at least, doesn't hold at all. My last flip-phone [0] was water-resistant and still had a headphone jack - it just had a rubber cover you had to pull up to reveal it. The charging port was also protected by the same cover.
[0] https://www.cnet.com/reviews/samsung-rugby-sgh-a837-review/