Player Piano was not one of my favorites, however I did enjoy the overall message of the book. I think in a lot of instances machines are taking over way to much of what should be left for humans to do. Now-a-days a musician can simply sing a song and then have a computer make the background melody. Music in the present is slowly being stripped away of pure talent. A computer can also make a terrible musicians voice sounds harmonic and distinct. It is so incredibly disappointing to go to a concert and have the musician sound completely different from what he or she's recorded music sounds like.
I enjoyed the ending to Player Piano as well. Just because one can not win every battle does not mean it is not worth putting up a fight. I thought it was brilliant that in the end Lasher told them all he knew they would not win the "battle". In a book about a society that is so structured, the message at the ending of the book was winning a battle in itself. At least they finally had a cause for something, used their own brain power instead of the machine.