If you have a recording, the orchestra can't adjust for a mistake or improvisation on the stage. A computer can be programmed to listen for certain cues, but still doesn't have the necessary skill to make the minute adjustments necessary to keep everyone in sync. With a live synth controlled by a conductor, there's still someone there who can adapt to less-than-ideal circumstances. Replace the actors with robots, though, and there's not much of a difference.

In short: yes.

1. Lucene can be set up to search just about anything—the web, a network, your desktop, a database, or anything else you can tell it to read.
2. Solr provides a web interface to Lucene.
3. Lucid Imagination contributes to the Lucene and Solr projects and provides commercial support for users of the software.

I agree that trackballs are the way to go, but I have to put in a plug for the Microsoft Trackball Explorer. It's far more comfortable (for me, anyway) to use my index or middle finger on the ball, and the five buttons are all quite easy to reach.

If only they still made them...