First of all this isn't about whether 48k sounds better than 44.1k, whether people can actually hear a difference, etc.
I've been recording in 48k for a while now and don't plan on changing that anytime soon. Before distributing a recording, I've been converting to 44.1k because that's a standard that any playback device (whether someone burns to CD, uses their ipod, etc.) can read. In this day and age, though, is 44.1k really necessary for compatibility purposes? Is there anything that won't play 16/48 out of the box? (I realize that 16/48 can't be burned to CD, but I don't care about burning to CD, and if someone wants to do that they're on their own.)
To be clear, I still plan to convert to 16 bit so the question here is just whether 48k presents any compatibility issues.