Realistically, What Kind of Chance Does Neil Young’s Pono Plan Have?

In case you haven’t heard, Pono (PO-no, apparently Hawaiian for “righteous”) is Neil Young’s digital music format. Those who have heard it say it sounds as good as an original analogue recording.  A line of Pono players is planned for release next year.

But here’s the question:  what chance does it have against iTunes’ ACC format and the MP3s we’ve all grown used to?

Let’s look on the positive side first.  

• Pono sounds great.  So great, in fact, that all three major labels–Universal, Warner and Sony–are interested in taking a look.  Maybe they’re hoping that Pono will do for their bottom line what the CD did back in the 80s.
• Audiophiles are interested.  Vinyl sounds fantastic but is inconvenient.  .WAV files are okay in a pinch but have their issues.  FLAC is okay, too, but not nearly as good as pure analogue.
• Pono players can apparently handled MP3s, AAC and other formats.
• And, er, that’s it.

On the negative side, we have this:

• Whatever we may think of MP3s and other compression music algorithms, they’ve become the standard for music.  Getting people to switch formats just because it sounds better is a tall order.  In case you haven’t noticed, fewer people care about true high fidelity sound these days.
• iTunes doesn’t support Pono.  Hell, try getting iTunes to play FLAC.
• You can’t convert MP3s or ACC files to Pono.  You’d have to re-purchase all your music in a new format, just like when the industry got us to buy CD copies of the vinyl we already owned.

Still, I applaud Neil on his effects.  I, for one, treasure high-quality audio.  But until I’m assured that I won’t have to completely redo my music library, I’m not interested.