The first time I saw a player piano (or, technically, this would have
been a nickelodeon) was at Shakey's Pizza.  They had a player that was
painted white to match the theme of the restaurant.  One of the workers
noticed me looking at the piano and pressed a button in the back of the
piano to play a song for free.

I was transfixed.  For a 10-year-old who had a technically curious mind
even back then, this was a sight to behold.  I carried that memory with
me for some 30 years.  Then I had an opportunity a few years ago to buy
a player/nickelodeon off eBay.  I got a fairly good deal on the
instrument despite the 500 mile round trip and renting a U-haul trailer
and convincing by brother and a friend to go on a "road trip" over the
weekend, but I got it home.

That purchase was one I have never regretted.  Most people who I show
the piano to have never seen anything like it.  What I find is that
technically oriented people (computer techs, engineers and the like)
find the instrument fascinating and ask lots of questions.  Others
politely listen and then change the subject as soon as the tune is
over.

I think there are several factors in play that contribute to an
apparent lack of interest.  In no particular order, what I see is:

People are used to things being instant.  At least half of the
population has grown up with microwave ovens and watching movies on
video.  Instant gratification has become the norm.  If something does
play a song or a movie or do _something_ in 20 seconds or less, the
interest is gone.

High tech has become trendy.  Very few people under 40 are decorating
their homes in any particular established style.  High tech items such
as big screen TV's, DVD players and stereos have become the main theme
in decorating a house.  Antiques are out, high tech is in.

With some exception, very few people under about 50 or 60 years old
have ever seen a player, much less have even heard of such a thing.

MP3 audio files and MP3 players -- these are part of the instant
gratification factor.  Today it is quite reasonable to be able to carry
in your shirt pocket 2000 songs that you can play your pick of almost
instantly and weighs less than 4 ounces.  Only a few short years ago
having even 200 songs in one place required a 300-pound juke box.

Because of copyright limitations and general marketing issues in the
player roll cutting business, most players play songs that _no one_ has
ever heard of.  Classical music is out.  Player pianos play what is
generally perceived as classical or "old" music.  People associate
better with things they know.  When a player piano plays a "hit" from
the '20's no one cares -- it's just playing boring piano music.

Again, people associate better with things they know or have good
memories of, like when I saw the player at Shakey's Pizza at 10 years
old.  Most of the population has never seen a player piano and even
fewer have fond childhood memory of one.

People who do have good memories of automatic instruments are becoming
less and less common.  It's an odd hobby in that every two months or so 
I see a notice in MMD saying something to the effect of "In memory of
(fill in the blank)".

Interest in antiques of all kinds goes in waves.  For 10 or 20 years
there may be interest in antiques and then for another 10 or 20 years
there may be very little.  That's just the way antiques work.  I think
in general we are in a lull for interest of all antiques, not just
automatic instruments.

What to do?  Well, frankly, I'm not sure that there really is anything
that can be done to spark any widespread interest in automatic music.
There was a short burst of interest in players and other automatic
instruments in the 1970s but this was really just a fad.  Let's face
it: today very few people give a darn about anything that isn't high
tech in some way.  75-year-old automatic instruments just don't cut it.

However, as the pendulum eventually swings back the other way and
people start to like antiques again, hopefully MMDigest will still be
here and copies of Art Reblitz' truly great book will still be sold on
eBay and some people will still want to restore a Seeburg Model E or
just a plain old Story and Clark 88-note player.

Musically,
Ray Finch
Albuquerque, New Mexico