I didn’t go to the CES show looking to buy anything. I was already spending enough money getting there… and, um, making cabbies rich once I arrived. But the chance to listen to Neil Young’s Pono music player at the Showstoppers press event at CES on Tuesday evening last week convinced me to open my wallet. The experience was just so amazing.
Understand, now, I’m no audiophile or crazy-geeky music connoisseur. But I do know when I hear something that’s like nothing else. So I decided pretty instantly — yep, I’m a buyer! At $399, it’s a bargain to be able to have on-demand music experiences that rise above anything else, as Pono does. And as I considered the cost, I figured, hey, how many people paid this much and more for iPods back in the day? (Even though I admit I didn’t.) So, price is especially relative in this case.
Compare your iPod to the Pono sometime, if you can find someone who owns one, or if you can find a demo unit in a store. You will be convinced. Or compare it to the sound quality of any of the various modern smartphones out there today — those sure haven’t improved music listening much at all since the iPod, in any way I’m aware of.
Let’s face it, the portable music experience still leaves a lot to be desired — even with a $300 pair of headphones. The main limiting factor is the file compression that was required when music first went digital — that’s what really ruined the sound quality of music, compared to when vinyl albums were the gold standard. That’s what fired up Neil Young enough to decide, some years ago, that he would pull together a team of experts to do something about it!
I don’t care how many tracks I can store on the player itself and the removable memory card. Quality is much more important to me than quantity of tracks. I won’t bore you with all the tech specs. You wanna geek out, read CNet’s very good take — by Aussie Ty Pendlebury (just published January 7th).
What song did I listen to when I finally found Pono’s crowded Showstoppers table, you ask? Why, “Heart of Gold,” of course!
Afterwards, I chatted with Phil Baker, Pono’s Senior VP of Product Development & Operations, who updated me about the success of Pono’s Kickstarter project. The company just completed the shipment of its first 15,000 units. And now orders are open to anyone to place from the company’s web site, right here — with delivery stated for February. (There’s even a discount code that will get you free shipping: CES2015 … and, shhh, it’ll work even if you weren’t there.)
By the way, Phil’s an interesting cat — read about his background on Pono’s “About Us” page (scroll way down), which includes experience with Apple. He, like the rest of the team, are not youngsters by any means — they have some years on ‘em. But it just goes to show you: experience does matter.
As they say, all the money in the world won’t buy you experience.
This team of old guys sure pulled off an amazing accomplishment in the Pono music player. And I can’t wait to fire mine up! Look for me at CoCo-Minneapolis sometime, after February, and I’ll give you a listen…
[Note: This post first appeared yesterday on Minnov8.com.]
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