A piano technician reports that the best pianos were built around 1900 and we'll never again see their like...the quality of today's pianos just doesn't measure up.

The finest pianos in the world were built about a hundred years ago. Due to evolution in engineering, exhaustion of raw materials, and flagging business standards, we will never see their like again. Some people may build very good pianos; new forms of the instrument may exceed (in narrow ways) the magnificent machines built a few decades either side of the year 1900. But, from a musical perspective, there will never be a "better" piano than the typical concert grand of a century ago.

(via @kdawson)