Comment on Fermi Estimates

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:08:39 GMT

I wonder. Pianos are still really expensive. They're very bulky, need skilled maintenance and tuning, use special high-tension wires, and so on. Even if technological progress, outsourcing manufacture to China etc haven't reduced the real price of pianos, the world is also much wealthier now and more able to afford buying pianos. Another issue is the growth of the piano as the standard Prestigious Instrument for the college arms races (vastly more of the population goes to college now than in 1900) or signaling high culture or modernity (in the case of East Asia); how many pianos do you suppose there are scattered now across the USA compared to 1800? Or in Japan and China and South Korea compared to 1900?

And on the other side, people used to make music at home, yes - but for that there are many cheaper, more portable, more durable alternatives, such as cut-down versions of pianos.

Discuss