I'm asking because if I spend this much money on a speaker, I want to be able to use it for 10+ years.
If you're worried about long term use then get a good set of speakers, a receiver/amp and an Airplay solution (if the receiver doesn't include it) like the ATV or Airport Express. That way if Airplay does die off you still have good speakers. No one can guarantee anything with tech. As you yourself pointed out, the tech world moves much faster than the audio world in this regard.
If you value the all-in-one aspect then by all means go for the Beoplay or similar. In general, I'm personally not a fan of all-in-one solutions because they tend to have more points of failure than dedicated separates. I'd also prefer having digital inputs but that preference may not be relevant to you. I wouldn't be so concerned about Airplay disappearing but more with regard to it being supplanted by a better solution down the road. That said, I'd consider such a solution for specific applications where lack of room and/or appearance would be a higher priority to me. You have to make the call based on your preferences and priorities.
Forgive me for asking, but don't you think investing $3000 in a mere speaker is an exorbitant choice?
3K isn't even near the upper limit of what speakers go for. Lots of things can seem pricey when you're not familiar with the range of options. Additionally, these aren't "just speakers" and design like this doesn't come for free either.
I suspect that most people that believe this is a lot of money to spend on speakers have never heard great home speakers.
People have varying preferences on all topics. Not everyone chooses to spend the money for high end speakers. Some are restrained by budgets that prevent them from doing so. Some just don't care and can't tell the difference. Nothing wrong with any of the options but we all choose where to spend our time attention and money and it's not always in the same areas from person to person. One person's "exorbitant" can be another's "acceptable" (or any number of other adjectives).
I don't own $3K speakers. I have some Magnepans that come in just under $1K but I could see moving up to their higher end models -- though maybe not all the way to the 20.7's which run ~$14K. One never knows and one can't assess that which one hasn't experienced though many seem willing to pass judgement anyway.
