Well I think midi is far from being dead. I thought I read on here somewhere that a new midi standard is being considered?
Doesn't sound like it's dead to me.
On higher end midi equipment the sounds are actually pretty good.
Especially piano, strings and the like.
But even on the higher end stuff instruments like acoustic guitars and certain reed instruments don't sound all that great.
At least they don't sound like the real thing. and that's OK too. Some times they sound better then the real instruments depending on the song and sound you're looking for.
There's really no contest when it comes to midi verses RT specially the acoustic side of things, but I still think midi has it's place as part of a musicians gear.
In my opinion comparing RT to midi is really apples and oranges.
They are two different animals and both have there place in today's music creation.

Tim