theobald boehm, back in 1850 came up with what we call the modern-day flute key system, but we seem to try and improve on what's been done for 140 years. (finley) flute production has changed dramatically-- mostly through mechanical and technological improvements digitally. and a lot of the machining has changed dramatically more specifically through tolerances of one thousandths of an inch, which is the thickness of a cigarette paper. and if it's off that much, flutists can hear it. we have machinery. we have computerized machinery. we essentially work with metal. we're metal workers. we melt it, we machine it, we cut it-- there's all kinds of things that we do to metal here and to do most of those functions you need tools and equipment. (greer) technology is the science of what if. i think of it as something that we can't do without because our minds are curious, and something that if we did without it we'd still be starting fire with stones. and the human mind wants more than that. and we want to better ourselves. sometimes we better ourselves, and sometimes we miss. (wassar) the pa