So far, I'm more successful at amassing post count that Gibson is at amassing (not withstanding CW) forward thinking companies.

slartabartfast
Arguably the Gibson philosophy has been to pessimistically/realistically recognize that guitar sales were going to be on a downward trend as new music styles and production techniques made the guitar hero an endangered species no longer to be emulated by every fourteen year old with a rich grandmother, then to optimistically believe that they could predict or shape the future by buying up technology that they believed would catch the next updraft.
 
Attempts to computerize the electric guitar and automate tuning were somewhat less than wildly successful. Investment in high end audio listening seem to have missed the point that most people are happy with the quality of their cell phone music, to the point that consumer audio without a way to connect an iPhone today look quaint if not a bit daffy to the masses. A foray into music production equipment probably made them realize that they did not have a foot in the already fraying and rapidly overdeveloping market in DAW software, which they correctly assumed would be the new instrument to replace the guitar (sequencer hero?), but without the realization that the mass market demand was closer to GarageBand than to ProTools.
 
Baldwin Pianos and Organs must have looked like a bargain when it went bankrupt in 2001, but pianos like guitars have been taking a hit as MIDI enabled electric keyboards have advanced to the good enough level at a price well below that of a sculpture of wood and wire, even one made in China. 
 
So overall, a justified fear of becoming irrelevant as a guitar maker, and a series of acquisitions that look like too short leaps after the departure of the music business into a future they foresaw a decade too late, into water that may well be too deep. The CEO apparently sees himself as an empire builder capable of magical manipulation of synergy to bring forth a massive new music themed conglomerate. Let us all hope he can convince more investors to trust his judgement before the bill for the buying spree comes due.

I don't know about the reason why Gibson bought CW but I'm glad they did if it meant CW would stave off bankruptcy or something.
 
I agree with your idea of the various trends though. It does seem like guitars are becoming more of an oddity than a staple. I don't like it but, in the current environment, why buy a guitar when you can get a drum machine and talk. Yeeeaaahhhh, boy!
 
I too find it a bit of a shame that home pianos are evaporating. I guess harpsichord makers were making some good bank at one point though too. I think eventually guitars and pianos will be made by niche specialty companies like accordion and church organ makers.
 
Maybe CW needs to look into something like Artist with a plugin that includes a rhyming dictionary of popular street slang and some dope beats. Then people can listen to the finished 'product' from their phones through beats headphones.