> I think it started with the acceptance of digital lossy audio formats, making its way into early bluetooth protocols, and it all went downhill from there.

You know what we had before Bluetooth and streaming?

• Cassette players
• Shitty plastic walkman headphones
• AM/FM radios
• Scratched records
• FM transmitters for your car
• Tiny desktop speakers bundled with a computer
• Laptop speakers
• Low quality burned CDs

High quality listening is cheaper and more accessible than it's ever been. Listening to Spotify over bluetooth on a stock car stereo is far better than the radio ever was, and that's without even getting into the convenience factor.

The truth is that people have never cared at large about audiophile level quality. The only difference now is that the baseline will get you far enough for most listeners, while you used to have to take some amount of effort to get to that level.