Back in my day... (must be said in Dana Carvey's old-man voice)

This is an article that I saw earlier today that definitely struck a nerve with me. I love my CDs and vinyl and cassettes, but as we delve further into the age of downloading and mp3s and what not, are we losing something in the process? I can definitely relate to the author here since I used to go to the one decent record store in my town every Friday and buy a different album ($4 each) in the back section where they kept all the used vinyl and mixed the punk/hardcore stuff (what I liked) with the metal records and that's how I got the 1st Clash Lp, Minor Threat's "Out of Step", Shudder to Think's "Funeral at the Movies", MDC's "Smoke Signals", the 1st Suicidal Tendencies album and others. Oh and when I first started college, I remember going back there one night and acquiring a 2 Lp Velvet Underground German gatefold sleeve compilation of material from their 1st 3 Lps and a New York Dolls gatefold sleeve double Lp of their 2 albums in one. Some of these records and bands are still all-time favorites today and I often wonder, did it mean more to me back then (and consequently, even now) than it does now, when everything is so much easier to acquire and the physical product as a medium for recorded music is becoming a thing of the past? Comments?