I'm not really arguing it should be able to be patented, I just think the iphone did drastically change the direction phones were going. I honestly wish there were more variety, because innovation is good.
I've thought american horror story was all around excellent, but what do I know. But like you said, the cast has been fairly consistent, even with the new storyline every year.
I've never heard a set of KRKs I thought got tone right at all. As to the ATCs, well...
And "most" bands being 1 guy with a mic and a guitar is kind of irrelevant when discussing studio work.
you're not going to find a speaker with a 6" driver that will reproduce a piano accurately. The best you can hope for is accurate timbre in the range of sound it's capable of reproducing.