<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; cha= rset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1170" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 4/8/04 7:41:52 AM Central Daylight Time, jorge1ml@cm= ich.edu writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>My concerns about Clavinovas were:<BR>  &= nbsp; 1.  Durability<BR>    2.  Portability  (theft= potential)<BR>    3.  Obsolescence<BR>    4. = What happens if a beverage goes in one?</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV>In 1984 I was at a chapter meeting in the Twin Cities when Bill Brandon= gave a presentation. One of the things I distinctly remember him sayin= g was that at that time, Yamaha was coming out with a new invention for elec= tronic keyboards every 10 months, and that those instruments were considered= obsolete after 18 months. He didn't say this, but government regulations st= ate that if a company guarantees a product, it must maintain inventory = for that product for the length of the gurnatee. So if these instruments are= guaranteed for 5 years, if anything breaks on one after that, Yamaha is not= obligated to keep parts in stock. Considering that they come out with a new= instrument every year, you can see how they might not want to keep spare pa= rts in stock any longer than necessary. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There is a place for electronic keyboard in school, like portability, r= ecording capabilities, different instrumentation, etc., just to name a few. = But if a school (or anyone), is going to buy one, (or 33 of them), they= need to start saving to replace it within the next 5 years. </DIV= > <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wim</DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"= >Willem Blees, RPT<BR>Piano tuner/technician<BR>School of Music<BR>Universit= y of Alabama<BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>