Actually even though I said that about the MSNBC story, I can't honestly say that he might not be right. Like you, MP3s sound just as good as CDs to me, but I'm hardly an audiophile and I usually listen on my computer system. Even now, I'd venture to guess that relatively few people listen to compressed digital audio on high end audio gear, so it may be that it hasn't been really been put to a true test.
If compressed audio is obviously inferior on these systems, then it limits its applications mainly to portable players, computers, and car audio.