DBX records.. interesting.

Its hard because once a format is entrenched, unless its backward compatible with the previous media...

The market did try to make a better cassette in the late 1980s/early 1990s.. The "Digital Compact Cassette". they competed with Sony's "DAT" (Digital Audio Tape).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Compact_Cassette

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Tape

You are right though, at this point digital is king. Its weird thinking back to a time when music was physical, took up space and you had to think about what to play next (and have it with you). You were sort of stuck with the music you brought with.