<HTML>In a message dated 5/21/03 3:43:51 PM Central Daylight= Time, kswafford@earthlink.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">>How many pianos are there i= n the world? >How many pianos are there in the U S? </BLOCKQUOTE> If we use Kimball's formula, we can guess on the number of pianos in the US.= As far as the rest of the world, that would be a little more difficult, bec= ause very few countries have the same economic base. Kimball's formula was "the population of a geographical area times 19%" So w= ith almost 275,000,000 people in the US, there should be about 52,250,000 pi= anos. Not all of them in use, and certainly not nearly that many being tuned= on a regular basis. On a lighter note, considering there are about 10,000 piano tuners in this c= ountry, with each one being able to take of about 2000 pianos, if there are = indeed 52 million pianos, more than half the pianos do not get any service a= t all. On the other hand, with 10,000 technicians trying to take care of those 52 m= illion pianos, even if they only got tuned once a year, the bad news is, tha= t each technician would need to tune 5200 piano per year, or 100 per week, e= very week. The good news, is that at $80 per tuning, the tuner would be brin= ging in about $415,000 a year. Taking out about 25% for taxes, and another 2= 5% for overhead, that is still a little over $200,000 per year profit. Not b= ad, if your arm can hold out. Wim </HTML>