Just a question about Freedom of speech on this list

[David Porritt]

Bill:

And what you say, you say so succinctly!

dave

Billbrpt@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 4/16/99 5:55:56 PM Central Daylight Time,
> kam544@earthlink.net writes:
>
> << Aside from all this, I know you are an exceptional technician, and that is
>  what ultimately matters in a piano forum.  Count me as one who is thankful
>  you have returned to the Pianotech List..
>
>  Sincerely,
>
>  Keith McGavern >>
>
> I agree with you Keith and I was impressed by you remarks as I was of
> Anteres'.  It is one thing to identify a situation and condition and give it
> a name and/or acronym, it is another to make a professional lifestyle out of
> always finding the *worst* you can say about nearly any piano rather than the
> best or at least trying to be impartial.  Yes, you have the right and
> privilege to say whatever you think about any piano on a List like this.
>
> I heard when Kimball went out of business which was quite a while before I
> ever got a computer and found my way here, that there were many ugly, cynical
> and vulgar denouncements of Kimball and how the prevailing attitude was "good
> riddance!".  To me, it was a tragedy because the company had made some very
> good improvements in the last years.
>
> The list member  who thought it was just fine to throw in the comment,
>
> <<regulation is not something I
>  >identify vertical Kimballs as being subjected to in any great detail, at
> the
>  >factory. >>
>
> did so as a gratuitous insult to the company and its products.  It was not
> pertinent to the discussion at hand.  It went beyond merely having an opinion
> about a topic but to a display of general cynicism. He asked me in in a
> response if I didn't realize that "Kimball is no longer around".  The poorly
> built pianos in this country that were only meant to last 15 years *are*
> gone.  The Kimball piano had a 75 year warranty on its soundboard against
> failure.  Now, although that warranty cannot be honored, companies don't make
> warranties for periods longer than they expect the product to last.  If
> anything, they underestimate it as a margin of safety.
>
> I believe that Kimball, a strong company, ceased the business of building
> pianos because of the declining market for a low end product.  Baldwin's most
> recent report has been consistent with this.  At this point, sales of the
> high end product are supporting the low end, not the other way around as it
> used to be or as you might still expect it to be.
>
> The fact is that there are so many common pianos out there that, in spite of
> the condemnation, ridicule and standardized neglect by the "good ol' boy"
> type of person who writes and makes public, over and over, derogatory remarks
> about these instruments, there is very little market for any more.  These
> instruments are holding up and are being kept and traded in the used piano
> market.  The high end pianos are being sold to the people with deep pockets
> and the used piano market has the greater share of the mid and low ends.  It
> was time for Kimball to quit while it was ahead.
>
> If you decided you wanted some first hand medical information and you went on
> a Physician's List to see what they were saying, would you expect to see the
> equivilent kind of language, which is largely indicative of ignorance and an
> inability to express oneself?  If you did, what kind of confidence would you
> have in that profession?
>
> One of the very first posts I ever saw on this List was by someone who had
> already told the whole tale at the dinner table at a regional seminar.  I,
> being the President of the Chapter, held my tongue and let him talk, not
> wanting to make a fuss nor to encourage him.  I tried to introduce another
> subject without responding to his.  The other people at the table did not
> comment other than with polite nods and "Oh?"'s that indicated they were
> listening.
>
> Till, he went on and on to give every incompetently done detail and make many
> speculations while guffawing at what he thought was such an amusing story.
> If that weren't enough,  I saw the whole thing here a short time later, in
> print and called it, "junk mail".  Of course, *that* was not the right thing
> to say, as I have so clearly learned, but I'm not really so sure that I
> wouldn't do the very same thing again if I had it to do over.
>
> Then again, I saw the whole thing printed over in the PTG Journal, complete
> with "PSO" but with no explanation of the acronym.  It was assumed that
> anyone reading it would know.  The author claimed that writing all of this up
> this way was meant to be used in "teaching" at a Chapter technical.  It was a
> very good example of teaching what not to do, I suppose.
>
> Then, finally, at the Convention in Providence, I was again confronted with
> this story that I had never wanted to hear in the first place.  Now, it was
> the sequel.  I was shown a picture of it in a flower garden, I think, I don't
> know, I didn't look at it very long.  I suppose at this point, as a flower
> box, it would be appropriate to say it is no longer a piano but a "PSO".
>
> Not wanting to hear any more, I very briefly told the distinguished gentleman
> that I know he really is, that I did not think the whole exposé was
> appropriate.  He didn't take that well and has tried to be the gadfly ever
> since.  I don't think in the position he has as a technician that he needs to
> engage in the kind of talk that demeans other technicians and the pianos they
> work on.  He is free to make any comment, observation or remark, yes, but to
> make a lifestyle out of it is bad for business.
>
> The ones who want to talk that way have made their own place to do it.  I say
> they keep it over there, out of the mainstream of information about piano
> technology.
>
> Bill Bremmer RPT
> Madison, Wisconsin



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David M. Porritt, RPT
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas
mailto:dporritt@swbell.net
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