Here's an interesting quotation from the 1910 Edison phonograph
catalog for those of us who love player pianos but may have missed
its shortcomings:

   "The Amberola (Edison's top-of-the-line phonograph) has cabinetry
  even more charmingly designed than a piano's, it does not require
  a lifetime of study, and it surpasses a player piano which, when
  all is said and done, gives you nothing but piano music".

(Quoted from Susan Strasser's "Satisfaction Guaranteed; the Making
of the American Mass Market")

Tom Sendall