electronics replacing pianos?

[Stéphane Collin]

Hi Ric.

My take is this : with vulgarization (this means, making the features 
available to everyone), you make things vulgar (this means with no highly 
appraised subjective value).  If one can at one fingertip change the 
temperament of the keyboard without any cost or effort, one surely will do, 
then try the other, then the next one, then the tuning number 13, then the 
number 45, then go back to the kitchen have another muffin.  Of course, the 
guy who runs whole europe seeking historical organs and listening to and 
transcribing their temperaments, studying them and their adequation to some 
repertoire, then developping esoteric techniques to try and duplicate then 
by ear, well, this guy will live another experience.  But who will do that 
when the ease is at hand ?  Again, who takes the time to fully transcribe 
with own hand, pen and paper, a book he particularly likes, and wants to 
possess ?  It is all a question of value : if the instrument doesn't cost 
much, then, the experience playing it will be of little value.  The real 
value is how you are when you do it.

Best regards.

Stéphane Collin.

>
> But I am still sitting here missing an answer to a perhaps uncomfortable 
> but perhaps very relevant question... one that we all may have to face in 
> increasing degree sooner then we may think.
> IF.... one first accepts for the moment that an electronic based replica 
> of an acoustic piano could be made so as to be indiscernible in every 
> acoustic and touch sense of the word... what would be so bad about 
> this.... indeed.... what would the consequences be good / bad / or neither 
> ?
>