I could be wrong, but I think the 44.1Khz sampling rate is an unfortunate relic of early adherence to Nyquist's theorem that says a sampling frequency a little over double the sampled frequency will return an accurate reproduction of the original waveform. In audio, we really don't care about anything over 20Khz, so 44.1 is "a little over" double that.
Equally unfortunately, it's an oddball float number, so it adds processing time, while 48Khz, 96Khz, 192Khz, etc. are evenly divisible and easily derived in hardware. No processing time, which leaves processors free to do other fun stuff.
I seriously doubt anybody can hear the difference between 44.1 Khz and 48 Khz, but the electronics involved are dramatically different. Again, unfortunately, since the industry started off in a bad place and it settled in as dogma, we're stuck with this goofy sampling frequency and now there's a bajillion dollars of gear and habits out there that would have to be overcome and replaced to get to a sensible place. Not gonna happen. At least, not this week. But, if smart/determined guys like Cliff keep pushing for sensibility, perhaps one day the status quo will realign.
But, I'm not gonna hold my breath while waiting. It's just a theory of mine.