Everything eventually becomes obsolete

A comic, via Oliver Chesler (proprietor of the pro-audio blog, Wire to the Ear.)

You probably already know this, but that iPad-ish looking thing in the lower right-hand panel is one of these:



Why? According to the inventor:

"In days gone by, a musical instrument had to have a beauty, of shape as well as of sound, and had to fit the player almost organically. [...] Modern electronic instruments don't have this inevitable relationship between the shape, the sound, and the player. What I have done is to try to bring back these [...] elements and build them in to a true musical instrument for the digital age."

I play some guitar, some horn, and some drumkit, but the piano was my first (and remains my primary) instrument. And though these days I tend to do most of my writing away from that particular axe, I still suspect that my basic conception of pitch is horizontal.

Which is just another way of saying that the tools you use affect the things you make.