John Hamm, CEO of Pono, Calls

And my opinion didn't change one bit.

Techies are different from musicians. They've got the gift of gab.

If you've met some of your favorite musicians, you know that loquaciousness is not one of their virtues. Oh, they might talk, but the longer they do the less sense they make, or the more intense they get. Musicians are suspicious, completely different from today's self-promoting wannabes masquerading in the role, and tech titans too.

Not that all tech titans can explain their story. That's why Daniel Ek employed Shakil Khan. Shak's a people person, one who ingratiates himself within seconds, who is warm and can extract the relevant nuggets from Mr. Ek, at least before Daniel learned how to do this himself.

And Mr. Ek is completely different from Neil Young.

Neil Young's heyday was the sixties, when musicians ruled the earth and you had to move to Los Angeles to play.

Daniel Ek stayed at home, in godforsaken Sweden, where it's dark all day and you live by the glow of the computer screen, changing the world if you've got the ability.

That's the techie credo... We're going to disrupt. You cannot see it coming, but your whole world is about to be upended.

Which is not what's going to happen with Pono. John Hamm believes Pono won't move the needle, won't affect Spotify or the iTunes Store. It's a niche product, delivering hi-res audio with the quality/convenience/cost paradigm in mind.

You can already buy hi-res tracks, from HDtracks. But Pono is pioneering a seamless system.

You can buy a hi-res player, from Astell & Kern. But loading it is not easy.

Then again, Hamm plans to employ some of that Kickstarter money to refine the UI. As for battery life, they expect 8 hours, they're not sure yet. You see...what already exists is far from the finished product.

But Pono believes it will ship in October. Although it is worried that volume might be a problem. I.e. they worry too many people will order via Kickstarter.

But if you want better sounding music today...

Buy a DAC, that's a digital-to-analog converter. You can get a good one for way under $100. You can get one that'll blow your mind, the ALO International, which includes amplification, for $599. You can go way beyond that and buy a brick that cannot leave the house for much more.

Not that John Hamm was familiar with all the foregoing.

You see he's a salesman, doing a job, making Neil Young's dream become a reality.

Oh, he's got business chops. And engineering chops. And tech chops. He's sold a few companies.

But he's a hired gun.

That's what's wrong with so many of these tech companies. There is no founder, just an educated guy who can drink a beer and rap with you. Which Steve Jobs could not do. Because he was too antisocial, and cunning. But everybody in tech is trying to imitate his reality distortion field, to the point where when they start talking, my eyes roll into the back of my head.

Mr. Hamm is not an expert on DACs, or headphone amplifiers, or headphones themselves. Rather, his goal is to make Pono a reality.

Should you care?

Watch the video on Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1lSZBfj

If you don't think there's a plethora of credible rock stars, you don't like rock. Then again, purveyors of hip-hop were notoriously absent, other than Rick Rubin.

And what do we learn from these guys (they were mostly guys)?

That they sat in Neil Young's Cadillac and heard amazing sound.

WHOOP-DE-DOO!

I've got a first rate car system. Audio sounds better in an automobile than anywhere else, it's a closed environment.

These people get to look good, get their own image embellished by associating with Neil Young.

As do the pledgers on Kickstarter.

I don't know about you, but I don't want my tech flawed. I want the first iteration perfect. Used to be I was not an early adopter, now I am all the time, that's how good design and manufacturing has become.

So I'm gonna invest all this money in people who don't do this for a living?

I'm all for high-quality sound.

Do I think Pono is the answer?

Absolutely not.

I agree with Mr. Young that most CDs are too harsh, that there's ear fatigue versus vinyl.

I believe the sound has affected what music is made, bass-heavy, compressed music sounds better with the present delivery systems.

I want not only an alternative, but one that will be embraced by all. Or most, some people still believe the cassette is coming back...

We live in a winner take all society. If you're not playing for absolute dominance, stop.

It's especially true on the Internet. Where there's one Google, one Amazon and one Apple. With everything at our fingertips, why settle for less?

Mr. Young grew up in a different era, one of iconoclasm. Believe in me because I'm unique. Whereas tech is all about efficiency. We don't want an Amazon t-shirt, we just want our goods to arrive quickly, and at the lowest price.

So who needs a niche FLAC player?

Not many.

Maybe you still use a BlackBerry. Maybe you're even spinning vinyl.

But those are niche products destined for the scrapheap. Some people still use typewriters and dial phones. Hell, some still employ dialup Internet access.

But most don't.

I don't want to hear you still buy CDs. Or don't have a smartphone. Or don't go on social networks because you're afraid of privacy issues.

You're just leaving yourself out of the game.

As did Neil Young.

If he was smart, he would have made a deal with a major manufacturer to get Pono distributed. Instead, he went on a personal hejira, unable to give up control or compromise, and is now preying on brain-dead fans to support his vision.

Yes, brain-dead. Fans are mindless. That's what belief is all about. Check with religions.

Not that there's anything wrong with that... Except most people think. And they're scratching their head wondering why they need Pono.

Most people don't. But the press did. They see sexy, they see ads, Jann Wenner is up the ass of Neil Young. Never underestimate star power.

But it will only gain you entry, it won't get people to lay their money down.

Steve Jobs was first and foremost a businessman. Second, a visionary. Or more accurately someone who could synthesize the available information into a coherent whole. He led, but not by too much, only when the customer was ready. And he won. After getting kicked out of his own company.

Neil Young specializes in leaving. Just ask Buffalo Springfield, or Crosby, Stills and Nash, or Stills himself, about the ill-fated Stills-Young Band tour.

Whereas Steve Jobs wanted to stay in. He adjusted, learned from his flaws.

What has Neil Young learned?

Absolutely nothing.

So expect this farce to peter out and for Mr. Young to continue to tour playing his hits of yore.

And for Mr. Hamm to get a new gig, because many people need a visionary salesman.

As for me, I'm going to sit here and continue to write this stuff straight.

And that doesn't mean I won't get it wrong sometimes.

Or that I hate hanging with rock stars.

But just because Neil Young wrote "Southern Man," just because John Hamm coughed up a ticket for a Dolby show, that does not mean I'm gonna get on the gravy train to irrelevance, stoking the dreams of those who care not a whit about me.

Pono is DOA.

Sorry.

P.S. John Hamm has a Spotify subscription. And a Pandora one too.

P.S. The Pono split with rightsholders is 70/30, just like at the iTunes Store, Mr. Hamm misunderstood the question at SXSW, there is no controversy here.


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --