Sorry, that was intended more as a comment as we move forward in time and more generations are produced in a period were physical media is being replaced by digital or non physical forms.
I was not trying to comment on the health of the hobby or near future outlook. I actually don't buy old comics for their future values (I have property, stocks,etc.) for that but I respect the concerns of those that do.
There is a noticeable decline in the interest of physical media happening and how that plays out in the collecting world into the future is anyone's guess.
Unless we do away with the corporeal nature of human beings I do not think digital media will have much of an impact. The physical goods still remain relevant cultural artifacts. People still collect snuff boxes avidly and I have never meet anyone who takes snuff.
I think people confuse the fact that digital media means we will have fewer hard copy prints now with the desirability of things printed in the past. The two are separate issues and the transition to digital media is at best tangentially related and at most totally irrelevant.