True dat. Time was when many more middle-class families had pianos in the parlour, and somebody in the house would be able to play it while people stood around and joined in.

Today we have a AM, FM, XM, Satellite, online radio, CD's, music DVD's, mp3 downloads, and everybody has an ipod plugged into their head continually. And probably fewer people are able to make their own music than ever before. We really have gone from being active people to being passive consumers. We're consuming more music than ever before, and it's more ephemeral and less participatory than it's ever been. Seems to me.