HD Audio: Do we need it?

There has been a lot of talk recently in the audio world about HD audio and players. Take Neil Young's Pono player for example, which has raised a staggering $6.2 million on Kickstarter as of June 2014. Here is an article from Digital Trends discussing whether or not we need such equipment. I must say that I am personally torn on the issue. Although I'm traditionally an audiophile, I almost never record over a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. In a world of limited hard drive size, I can't justify doubling the size of a project for what is arguably a minuet or imperceivable improvement in quality (see this article). If we all had hardware that made the difference obvious (and we don't), then I would be 100% on board for recording at 88.2 kHz or higher. But until that happens, I'm going to stick with good ol' 44.1 kHz.