Has it begun again? (long)

[John Woodrow]

Rob Goodale wrote:
>
While many techs, (and likewise consumers), have argued that "Digitals
Pianos Will Take Over the World", (and the sequal movie, "The Digital That
Ate My Brain"), there are several important points here to consider.
<

>
Digital pianos  still have their place. Certainly there are situations in
which they work equal or better. But I don't beleive they replace pianos so
much as just becoming another breed added the keyboard species. No more
than an electric guitar replaces an accousic guitar.
<

Rob & List,
Good point Rob.  I have pondered this topic often and have come up with 2
possible scenarios.  One is that digital technology will improve and kill
of pianos as we know them.  The other is that digital technology will prove
to be the 'best thing since bread' for real pianos.

Remember, piano sales were declining long before the advent of decent
digital keyboards.  So piano popularity was declining for other reasons.
So my second hypothesis is that stacks of young children now have access to
cheap inexpensive portable keyboards in homes and schools.  A lot of these
kids, plus a stack of newbies will in time progress to the next level of
PC's plugged into synthesizers etc.  When they get tired of that they will
progress up to digital pianos.  Finally they will progress on to wanting a
real quality piano.  

So rather than being the death of the piano, digital technology represents
the entry level for a whole stack of future piano owners.  Prior to the
advent of affordable digitals, these people would have bought a cheap junk
piano and probably given the whole thing away after a couple of years.

I don't know if I really believe scenario 2 or it is just the one that I
hope will occur.  The key is having quality new acoustic pianos at an
affordable price, which I don't believe is currently the case, at least in
this country.


Regards,
John Woodrow 
Sydney, Australia