----- Original Message ----- From: "Porritt, David" <dporritt at mail.smu.edu> I don't see this kind of discussion as being anti Steinway. I'm certainly not anti Steinway. I wish them the best and I just wish they were what they claim to be. Perhaps the discussion is not intended to be anti-Steinway. But if an outsider were to peruse the pages of the CAUT list, I would bet he/she would think that those who contribute to this list are mostly of the opinion that Steinway can't do anything right. It seems to me that on a weekly basis, there is at least some discussion around what Steinway doesn't know how to do, and what sounds like full support for anyone doing something to undo a Steinway piano and make it something else. That is just an observation. I think many of us don't realize just how anti-Steinway the language on this list sounds. Steinway claims the industry leading high road but produces something less. I personally just wish that their claims were true. They might have to raise their already-high prices to actually produce what they claim they are. I would like to point out, again, that among the instruments regarded as world leaders in artist grade instruments, that the NY Steinway is the least expensive, despite the fact that the labor force is unionized workers in New York City. I'm not sure where this myth of NY Steinway being so pricey comes from, unless we are comparing them to the mass-produced knock down models. And that simply isn't an apples to apples comparison. I tire of the incongruent comparisons of Steinways to the disposable model series of other makers. If any "marketing" done by any of the companies can be responsible for reputation, it is this flat out misleading and untruthful approach that I cannot stomach. We must also remember just how much of the selling price of the sale the dealer gets to keep, and yet we throw all the blame for inconsistency on the factory. Jeff Tanner -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut_ptg.org/attachments/20090418/ea36adbe/attachment.html>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC