<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; =
charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That's how companies improve their =
product.
The masses say "hey, time to move on to a better product We're no =
going to
buy that brand anymore." So the manufacturer says "hey, we need to =
upgrade
our product to stay in the game", and thus innovation and enterprise =
move
forward. Can you visualize NEW 1960's vintage televisions
and stereo equipment in stores because RCA sunk every bit of =
their
R&D capital into marketing instead? Can you imagine what it =
would be
like if Ford continued to produce the 1970s Maverick today because =
they
insisted that it was a superior product? Unfortunately the =
American auto
industry did just that for many years while Japanese companies poured =
far better
and efficient cars onto the market. It took them YEARS to figure =
out that
times had changed. It was almost fatal as their stocks plummeted =
and
Chrysler was forced into bankruptcy. To prop up their product line =
they
were forced to buy imported vehicles and put their own names on them, =
(remember
the Chevy "Luv" and the Ford "Fiesta"?) You know, kind of like =
uh...
Boston. Of course this isn't a new concept. The Chevy S-10 =
and
Mitsubishi's pick-up are the same vehicle with a different grill =
and
dashboard and come from the same factory in Shreveport =
Louisiana.
Likewise Baldwin bought the Wurlitzer name and perpetuated it =
by
commissioning Samick to build pianos that say "Wurlitzer" on =
them. A
simple matter of economics. On the flip side however the REAL =
competitors
are the ones who continue to develop their product. Kawai doesn't =
make the
KG-2 anymore. Yamaha doesn't make the G-3 anymore. They =
realized
that the time for these pianos had come and gone and it was time to move =
on.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thus we come to your comment "how =
long it
will be until our communal efforts will finally and fatally injure the
reputation of Steinway with the resultant demise of yet another of =
Americas
remaining piano manufacturing companies." Continuing to say =
that
Steinway's pianos are superior in order to "protect" them isn't the
answer. Sooner or later- maybe not tomorrow, maybe not for many =
more
years, but certainly <U>someday</U> all the marketing in the world isn't =
going
to change the reality that they are antique reproductions. =
Again no
disrespect to Steinway, but there is a reality here. How many more =
years
will dealer sales people have to give the speech about how Steinways are =
an
"investment" and will be worth more in five years from now because the =
cost of
their production continues to go up without regard to wear, =
tear, and
depreciation? (I would love to hear an economics professor analyze =
that
argument sometime). While there may be <U>some</U> limited =
truth to
that, how many more years will it be before Steinway says, "hey, if =
Henry
Steinway was alive today what would <U>he</U> =
do?" </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well the original topic of Boston =
pianos has now
LONG been lost in this tangent. Just something to think
about.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Rob Goodale, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Las Vegas, NV</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>From:</B> <A
title=Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
href="mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no">Richard Brekne</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><TT> story Robert. While I =
suppose to some
degree most of us tend to aggree in part at least with your =
sentiments... I
have to wonder how long it will be before our communal efforts will =
finally
and fatally injure the reputation of Steinway with the resultant =
demise of yet
another of Americas remaining piano manufacturing =
companies.</TT><TT></TT>
</DIV>
<P><TT>But I did enjoy your story :)</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>--</TT> <BR><TT>Richard Brekne</TT> =
</P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>