Hi All,  I have been reading your posts about the quality of pneumatic
cloth and new pianos.  The public has no idea of what is going on, nor
do they care.  Ninety percent of people buy products because of price,
color or product name.

Years ago people would buy a quality used piano and it would be used by
several members of the family.  Now there are less people who play the
piano so the demand is lower.  People in my area of the country very
rarely buy anything used, but they will buy something new if it is
cheap enough.  Thus a market is formed for junk.  Then you have the
people who have been raised to throw out things just because they are
old.

A good example of the demise of quality is Home Depot, the nation-wide
hardware store chain which has killed off most of the small hardware
stores so now companies only have a few places to sell their products.
Home Depot sells products that are made to their low standards to
increase their profit: water faucets, that used to last 30 years with
only some washers changed, now give out in three or four years.  By the
size of the crowds at the store it looks like no one cares!

The problem with loving mechanical devices is you develop a taste for
quality.

John Conrad Kleinbauer
Kleinbauer@juno.com