Do we really need anything greater than 24/96? Opinions?

At David, please don’t get the demonic gingerbread man wound up, he might get abusive 🙄

For the OP’s original question about 24/96. The answer I think is an emphatic no. Hell 16/44 keeps getting better as the DACs improve over time to the point that it sounds damn good. Mind you old, poorly mastered or recorded CDs still sound like dog poo but that is not the fault of the medium which has gotten much better over the past 35 years of its development. 

Optimize,
You are technically correct and I misspoke, so let me clarify. Yes the red book format has remained the same as the parameters which define it are static. What I really was trying to explain are the two things that have changed over the course of the consumer digital lifespan namely;
1) recording and mastering engineers (the good ones anyway)have at their disposal better front end A/D equipment and have developed processes and systems which allow for better sounding music to get into the digital medium to start with and,
2) the consumer equipment performing the D/A conversion has gotten MILES better particularly in the past 5-7 years or so.
None of this should be surprising as the format matures and I’m certain digital has only begun its long and exciting optimization process. Looking to analogue which has been around probably 3 times as long as digital yet continues to get better as technology progresses.