Look, guys... Here's the problem.
Many professional musicians DO use arrangers, and get very good results with them, often as good as dedicated WS's and SMFs, with far more interactivity. No argument there at all...
BUT.... VERY many absolutely terrible players use arrangers, people that can barely play a note. Now, stick these guys (and gals!) in front of a WS, and the odds are they will just shake their heads and give up. There is NO WAY that they can make themselves sound good enough to even fool themselves they don't suck, yet alone anyone else. So you'll NEVER have to listen to them play.
But stick them at an arranger, call up a style and hit the One Finger Chord section, and all of a sudden, it sort of sounds like music (even if they haven't the first clue what single finger to press!). This then leads them to the conclusion that they CAN play music, and someone else REALLY needs to hear this! In fact, as many people as possible...
And don't get defensive. We ALL know someone (or two) that will inflict their appalling playing on you if you give them half a chance (uncles, aunts and little old ladies that had a year of piano when they were eight are the worst culprits!). They just are SO proud of themselves, it's so hard to burst their little bubble with the information that, firstly, the chords are all wrong, they played them completely out of time, and the melody was just FUBAR.
But if you didn't have the first clue about music, you MIGHT be able to convince yourself that this was good...
So don't get all bent out of shape, those of you that DO play well, even well enough to make a living. I KNOW you know exactly the kind of person I'm talking about! And THEY are the kind of person Simon Cowell is talking about... (not you!)
Now, if I were the Prime Minister, I wouldn't ban these things completely. No, sir! But I WOULD make it necessary to have a license to play one in public that was obtained by being able to play something decent WITHOUT the auto ACC! That might at least relegate these awful players to their bedrooms and living rooms, where they actually belong!
Everyone deserves the opportunity to make music for themselves, and arrangers are the best way for non-musicians to achieve this. I've no problem with this... It's when they convince themselves they CAN play, and make you listen to it that I start to have a problem!
And so does Simon