... are M8’s, M8.2’s and dM’s to come simply throw away folly of the rich and professional or is there still some life left in the old notion ‘my Leica today is my Leica for life and even my kid’s Leica once I’m gone’?
A good question that focuses on the very concept of 21st Century consumerism. Craftsmanship and engineering seem no longer to be valued for their own sakes. Instead, items are purchased because they have cachet, or for no better reason than they're technically advanced. Sadly, some people buy them simply because they're expensive or exclusive. When these factors no longer apply some become embarrassed to possess such old tat (however beautifully assembled it may be).
This is the Leica dilemma. Leica's reputation is built on engineering and optical excellence, but in recent years Leica has itself debased that reputation with flawed offerings (including the M8) and marketing / pricing that appeals mainly to the bling brigade. The M8 in particular, is routinely dismissed as an eccentric choice at best and a rich fool's plaything at worst. It is rarely perceived to be 'best of breed' in any respect - an important attribute if it is to become a collectible. Furthermore, its frail digital heart will most certainly have failed long before your grandchildren first get to release its wonderfully archaic shutter.
I regret there is little chance the M8 will be treasured by your grandchildren (except as a curiosity - a drowning cottage industry's last grasp at the straws of a passing age).
On the other hand, Leica lenses do not have the 'tat' factor brought on by fashion obsolescence or gizmology. For the foreseable future, the unglamorous lens will continue to be necessary to focus light on a receptor. Nobody makes better lenses than Leica. Perhaps the Leica pedigree can live on in lenses built to the highest technical and optical standards ... and for the right markets, including third-party suppliers of image capture equipment.
A lens is an unglamorous object, but a Leica lens may be admired for its technical performance and inherent 'know-how', both born of years of experience, sound science and engineering, all combined with commitment to excellence. Leica lenses will still work long after the last M8's electronic heart has fizzled out.
Some Leica lenses may be objects of desire 100 years from now. I suspect your Dad's M8 will be merely a non-functional curio your descendants swap for a song at a solar-car boot sale.
