It still comes down to "how it sounds" Forget the compression ratio's and the frequency specs .... if you can't hear a difference - then there IS NO DIFFERENCE !
The ears are everything in this business of music - stop reading, and start listening.
I still use MD's for some things, and CD's for others, and MP3's and WMA's for others still - it's all good ..... in it's place.
The only advice I have about the future of MD is that I fear it may not be here as long as the CD format. If I didn't already own MD gear .... I doubt that I'd spend too much on building a studio around it. I still like hard disk systems with real mixers, with REAL knobs, and REAL sliders .... it's so much easier than a menu driven system .... at least at the moderate level. At the pro level ($40,000 and up) then I might prefer a different set up.
For my hard earned money - a Tascam digital 8 track (VSR880) with a Mackie 1604VLZpro, TC finalizer & effects and a modest monitor set up (Sony 100watt home stereo powering EVENT 20/20's and Optimus bookshelf's) is plenty to produce very respectable recordings. The engineer, human ears and experience are far mnore valuable than the media used. Remember Sgt. Peppers ????????
(NO one would use that gear today)