Speaking as an 18-year-old youth (and coincidentally also a mechanical
engineering student), I know that most people my age don't appreciate
the virtues of mechanical music.  Even here in the Netherlands, where
organs still roam the streets on a regular basis, hardly anyone will
even pause for a moment to observe the piece of perfect mechanical
craftsmanship that for so long has been doing exactly what it is
intended to do.

Only last week I watched in horror as a disgruntled female student
threw a bucket of water over an organ from the roof of her apartment
during the Amsterdam band organ festival.  (She was arrested shortly
afterward when the police had broken down her door!)

There almost seems to be an unfounded hatred of sorts.  Many organ
owners spend a lot of money trying to keep their repertoire up to date
so that you can always hear the latest popular tunes, but often to no
avail.  Even when I tell some of my fellow students at the university
about my own organ, I get odd looks -- after all, "Who still cares
about those things?"

I really wish there was a way to improve the status quo, but the fact
of the matter is that there simply isn't one.  Luckily, for every 1000
ignorant people there will always be a couple of new enthusiasts (the
"odd ones out", I suppose), and they will have to be the ones that
sustain this wonderful world of music for years to come, no matter what
other people do or tell them.

There will always be someone fascinated with the amount of technology
that went into these instruments.  I know I am.

Sincerely,
Thijs Haenen - Owner of NBC organ "De MIDI"
The Netherlands