Every 'expert' has gone totally nuts over anything digital. We converted from analog to digital in the telephone network simply to improve the signal to noise ratio. That is because a digital repeater (fancy amplifier) only needs to be able to distinguish ones and zeros and the re-create the bit stream out the other side at higher levels. With an analog amplifier everything gets amplified, both the voice signal and the noise. The difference is that we mostly transmitted over wires or optical fiber. Signals were also sent by radio waves but with very directive antennae and even then they did suffer weather effects.
"Don't you love farce"