Having spent more than 3 decades as an on stage musician/singer/entertainer, there is no way in **** that a midi keyboard would appeal to me, or any other pro entertainer that I knew during that time. Those midi controller keyboards have been around for a long time, but only a handful of individuals seem to be purchasing them. I have a nephew who has one of the busiest recording studios in Baltimore, he has a midi controller keyboard, and most of the time, it sits in the corner drawing dust. It is rarely used, mainly because of the complexity of the software and the horrendous editing time involved just to create a single song. He also has a couple arranger keyboards as well, and they get used a lot more frequently.
As for Yamaha, or any other company ignoring 85 percent of it's market, us older folks, I don't think this will happen. Old folks can usually afford a $5,500 arranger keyboard because we worked hard and saved our money. We just write a check for what we need and never seem to look back.
The home organ retailers were nearly all piano stores to begin with. When Hammond and others came along with an easy to play, home organ, that were often demonstrated in large shopping mall hallways, the old folks came along and purchased those overly-priced monsters that required a large moving van and a half-dozen big men to bring it into the living room. Some sold for more than $70,000 and the market held up for years.
Then, arranger keyboard entered the picture, with prices beginning at about $500 for the Yamaha PSR-500, which I, and several other local players used for nearly a decade playing the nite club and bar circuit. We usually only updated when something that had amazing styles and voices came out, and that we could easily transition to while maintaining a relatively busy gig schedule.
From my point of view, arranger keyboards, particularly Yamaha and Korg, will be around long after my untimely passing. As for the midi keyboards, well they require a lot of time and work, both of which are 4 letter words that our younger generation, on a whole, doesn't seem to enjoy. There is no instant gratification, with a midi keyboard, but there still is when a new arranger keyboard arrives in the stores.
Just my .02 cents worth,
Gary
