Pianos, Books and Technology

We have "his and hers" pianos now. Did I tell you that already? Ever since we bought the Birthday-Present-To-End-All-Birthday-presents...my Yamaha Baby Grand piano...Bryan has been hugely interested in musical theory and re-learning how to play. He has spent HOURS and HOURS on the computer researching and practicing intervals, notes and scales. He claims that yesterday morning when his phone rang, waking him up from a dead sleep, the first thing that popped into his consciousness was not the fact that someone was trying to get a hold of him but the interval pattern in the song/ring. He has been frustrated, though, that he couldn't play the piano as much as he'd like because much of his free time was when the kids were asleep. And in order to keep them that way playing the piano after 9:30 or so just wasn't an option. So he started looking into keyboards and digital pianos. Something he could attach headphones to and play till 2:00 in the morning if he wanted. (Which he has done now more than once.) His research led him to a Yamaha Clavinova 405 which now sits in our living room opposite the baby grand. And he spends hours on it. Daily. His fingers are sore from playing so much. He is SO excited about the things he is learning, the improvements he is making in playing, and the amazing things this piano can do. He says that this piano is more than just a piano...it's more like a symphony box. It really is seriously awesome. But I prefer my baby grand. Maybe I'm old fashioned. Maybe I'm a romantic but I LOVE my piano. I love that I can see inside to all the tiny little pieces of wood and metal that make the piano have the sound that it does. I love the craftsmanship behind it. I love that I own and play an instrument that has been around for hundreds of years. And that the piano that I own, if taken care of, could potentially last another hundred years. It's not going to go out of style or out of date when technology changes.

I've realized that I'm the same way about books. I LOVE to read. Love, love, love it. And so you would think that I'd be really excited about all these new, fancy ways you can read a book. I can listen on my ipod, I can download a book to my computer, I can put books on the Kindle from Amazon. But none of those things actually allow you to hold a book in your hand. The smell, the feel, being able to turn pages, the weight in my hands, the overall look of the book. These things....once again, maybe because I'm old fashioned or a romantic...I love. It scares me to death when some forward thinker proudly announces that someday in the not too distant future all books will be accessed electronically and we won't have need for libraries or bookshelves.

All of this makes me sound like a technophobe, I'm sure. Honestly, I'm not against technology. I can't live without my computer. I listen to my ipod everyday and I'm totally in love with my sweet, new, shiny cell phone. I'm sure that I will also enjoy countless hours of playing Bryan's new digital piano. But, oh! There are just some things that I'm not sure you can improve on. And I just hope that many of these electronic "upgrades" that are supposed to make your life easier can exist side by side in harmony with the tried and true.