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justinian on 27 August 2012
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kowenicki said:
ultima said:
kowenicki said:

exactly...its a bogus phrase.

it is marketing ploy. thats why i ticked that box in the poll.

btw i can buy a 4k tv today.... so the PS3 wasn't future proof.

You're just arguing semantics. By your definition, "future proof" is a term that can never be fulfilled, and hence should never be used. The fact is, by common definition, if you bought a DVD player in 1998, you were future proof, if you bought a Blu-ray player in 2006, you were future proof, just like if you buy a third generation i7 now you're future proof.

Thats the whole point of the thread! lol

It is asking if it is a marketing ploy.... it is.  The term should never be used.

It is most definitely a marketing ploy and I believe it can never be fulfilled where CERTAIN electronics (which strangely enough are the exact type of electronics this phrase is almost always asscociated with) are concerned, unless you fool yourself into believing it can be.

I can argue the DVD and Blu-Ray examples given by Ultima.

I bought a DVD player in the late 90s that couldn't play certain DVDs. I can't remember for sure but I think it was Dual Layer DVDs. Whatever it was the Ben Hur DVD (among others) didn't work on it but worked fine on a later DVD player.

I bought a Blu-Ray player for my PC (not in 2006 but not that long ago) that will be unable to read the larger capacity, soon to be released new BR disc. No firmware update is going to fix it either according to the manufacturers. Don't know about the living room BR players but I don't see why they can't have the same problem.

Ultimately it comes down to your definition of "future proof". My definition is that a certain device bought can handle anything thrown at it in the future, in other words have all the functions and be just as capable as the ones that come out years later are. I don't see this happening.                                                      Note: I am not talking washing machines or a coffe-maker.

The other way to look at is this. Earlier this year I bought a digital SLR camera and was told by the salesman it was "future proof". I know that the future holds faster and larger SD cards that it might not be able to use, faster processors etc., but I suppose he meant or I think that he meant that as I bought it to take pictures it is future proof because it can take as good a picture as any other similar type and priced camera in the future. Maybe that was his definition of future proof.

Maybe he has a point but the way the term is thrown around at ever changing electronic it should be dropped., like Cisco's definition of a Lifetime guarantee the IT bloke was moaning about the other day.