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Old and New Technology in the Land of None

Posted by michael on from the mosquito-coast dept.

ninthwave writes "The Guardian has this article on the adventures of piano tuners in the Amazon. I think it is a nice lesson in the age of technology to see the perceived hardships of using technology in areas where the natives are quite happy without. More impressive is the old wooden piano seems to survive better than the new synth but that is horse of a different colour."

5 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. phew by grub · · Score: 4, Funny


    I almost didn't get to read this story on old technology, one of the tubes in my computer died.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. What needs tuning... by craenor · · Score: 5, Funny

    The piano? Or the guy who delivers a baby grand piano into the Amazon...

  3. Eww... by Wampus+Aurelius · · Score: 5, Funny

    The case was full of insect eggs; she thought that perhaps cockroaches had done the damage and spent a few minutes chasing one adult through the innards.

    Can you imagine when someone plays Beethoven's 5th?

    DONG DONG DONG (squish)

  4. New sport: Extreme Philanthropy by Ooblek · · Score: 5, Funny
    A set of hearty do-gooders get this warm, tingly feeling when a bunch of savages want a grand piano of their very own in the middle of the Amazon. These heros set out with visions of a next renaissance in music as these villagers are left with a musical instrument and a desire to learn. Documenting their great struggle in taking this behemoth from the civilzed world to the uncivilized world. Overcoming obstacles like raging rivers and dense tropical jungles, they finally deliver this prize. They leave, intending to come back a few years later. In this time, they expect the musical capabilities of these primitives to mature beyond belief - much like leaving a batch of wine to ferment to perfection in an old oak barrel.

    So our intrepid travelers return and are greeted be the villagers that have apparently just been shopping at Target. Flip-flops, shorts, and even the occasional T-Shirt that has the phrase, "I'm a lion hunter. If you see me running, try to keep up," on the back.

    The cheap-clothing aside, the veteran piano-tuning-commando-squad makes the exhausting 8-mile trek through the jungle to finally visit the prize instrument and to taste the sweetness of the evolved musical talent that should have developed over these past years.

    What they found is that the piano that was donated has almost cracked in half due to the fact the generous donation turned out to be little more than someone deciding not to sell the thing for $5 at a garage sale. (They must have decided they didn't want to move the thing out the front door every Saturday for a month while trying to get rid of it.) The instrument itself was infested with insects and their eggs, probably due to the fact that they generally kept the piano in a storage shed until visitors with cameras decided to show up. This explains all the Target type clothes since it appears that they are really cannibals that would eat visitors without cameras and take their clothes.

    In the end, the savages did learn how to belt out a few Bach and Beetles tunes, but then just wanted a fricking Korg keyboard, "Like we asked for in the first place." I don't see why they didn't just ask for a PC and a net connection so they could just use Kazaa and download all the Bach and Beetles MP3s they wanted!

  5. Re:In other news... by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    I find it funny when people complain about the rediculousness of low-tech firearms on a spaceship</quote>

    Low-tech or not, it'll kill ya, and dead is dead.

    Lets face it, we're still dependent upon the 7 "low-tech" discoveries/inventions of the Neanderthals:

    1. Fire
    2. Farming
    3. Art
    4. Weaponry
    5. Animal Husbandry
    6. Clothing
    7. vi and unix (well, religion, and holy wars in general)