What does "Future Proof" mean to you?

[AncientNerd]

Okay I just had an interesting bit of response to another thread, basically the conversation went me saying that future proof was the ability to upgrade around the periphery of a system while keeping the core intact, while the other person said that no it is basically "don't touch it for X years".

 

I find this an interesting question and thought I would ask others opinion. 

[Max_Settings]

2 minutes ago, AncientNerd said:

while the other person said that no it is basically "don't touch it for X years".

 

^^^^ This was me

[PlayStation 2]

Jack shit.

As long as it can play the games I want at decent settings at a decent resolution (really, medium-high at at least 1360x768), it's future proof enough for me.

[AnalogCanavity]

It means that your PC (if your talking about PCs) will last a decent amount of time working well to YOUR standards  before having to upgrade or build/buy a new one 

[PCGuy_5960]

IMO, people worry too much about futureproofing. Just get whatever offers the best performance in the applications that you are using and stop worrying about how it's going to perform 5 years down the line.

[AncientNerd]

Just now, Zic05 said:

It means that your PC (if your talking about PCs) will last a decent amount of time working well to YOUR standards  before having to upgrade or build/buy a new one 

Yes, I am talking about PCs. I guess I didn't make that clear enough.

[AbleRyder]

a PC built to last the test of time and to be able to handle new software and games that come out without too many problems.

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

money is futureproof, coz even if u keep it for a long time for the future u can still use it and it wont have decreased in value

^

thats basicly what futureproof means to me, nothing in hardware is futureproof in that context because they lose their value in a while however most ppl see futureproof as able to run for atleast a few years

[TVwazhere]

4 minutes ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

money is futureproof, coz even if u keep it for a long time for the future u can still use it and it wont have decreased in value

You obviously have never heard of the term "inflation"

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/09/14/140419140/the-economic-catastrophe-that-germany-cant-forget

 

Ask Germany, post WW1. Not even money is future proof

[MrDrWho13]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

You obviously have never heard of the term "inflation"

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/09/14/140419140/the-economic-catastrophe-that-germany-cant-forget

 

Ask Germany, post WW1. Not even money is future proof

Probably a weird example, but it's the same with the TF2 marketplace. 1 refined metal used to be 1/3 of a key. The key has remained at the same value but not one refined is around 1/30 of a key.

 

Anyway, I would describe futureproof as "living up to your expectations over the course of the device's lifetime". So for a phone, it should retain similar performance and be compatible with current technology for 2-3 years after your purchase since that's the standard contract length. For a desktop PC, it would be 3-8 years, and still be compatible with most modern technology and run games up to your expectations.

[AnalogCanavity]

11 minutes ago, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

money is futureproof, coz even if u keep it for a long time for the future u can still use it and it wont have decreased in value

^

thats basicly what futureproof means to me, nothing in hardware is futureproof in that context because they lose their value in a while however most ppl see futureproof as able to run for atleast a few years

That’s not true, money can go down in value

[Valkyrie Lenneth]

2 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

Probably a weird example, but it's the same with the TF2 marketplace. 1 refined metal used to be 1/3 of a key. The key has remained at the same value but not one refined is around 1/30 of a key.

 

Anyway, I would describe futureproof as "living up to your expectations over the course of the device's lifetime". So for a phone, it should retain similar performance and be compatible with current technology for 2-3 years after your purchase since that's the standard contract length. For a desktop PC, it would be 3-8 years, and still be compatible with most modern technology and run games up to your expectations.

 

2 minutes ago, Zic05 said:

That’s not true, money can go down in value

In general, the term "future-proof" refers to the ability of something to continue to be of value into the distant future; that the item does not become obsolete.

[Max_Settings]

It seems like most people agree with me, it means buy something now and not touch it and expect it to last X amount of years.

[Bananasplit_00]

a future proof system should hold up to the tasks you will have to perform the comming x years

[AncientNerd]

Just now, MrDrWho13 said:

Probably a weird example, but it's the same with the TF2 marketplace. 1 refined metal used to be 1/3 of a key. The key has remained at the same value but not one refined is around 1/30 of a key.

 

Anyway, I would describe futureproof as "living up to your expectations over the course of the device's lifetime". So for a phone, it should retain similar performance and be compatible with current technology for 2-3 years after your purchase since that's the standard contract length. For a desktop PC, it would be 3-8 years, and still be compatible with most modern technology and run games up to your expectations.

Hmm, interesting this is probably the closest so far to what I think of when I think of future proof. Basically "can I continue to use and/or upgrade this inexpensively". 

 

4 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

It seems like most people agree with me, it means buy something now and not touch it and expect it to last X amount of years.

Yup, I am in the minority...you were right.

[AnalogCanavity]

Nothing is future proof, everything will just wither away 

[SnowyMus]

Futureproof, verb. To spend unnecessary amounts of money on your PC, getting only slightly better performance today and probably still only slightly better performance in the future.

 

Example usage: I bought an 8 GB RX 580. My PC is futureproofed for 4K gaming.

 

Synonyms include:

• Getting more than 16 GB of RAM for gaming
• Buying an 8 GB Polaris card for 4K
• Kaby Lake-X

[PlayStation 2]

23 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

Probably a weird example, but it's the same with the TF2 marketplace. 1 refined metal used to be 1/3 of a key. The key has remained at the same value but not one refined is around 1/30 of a key.

 

Anyway, I would describe futureproof as "living up to your expectations over the course of the device's lifetime". So for a phone, it should retain similar performance and be compatible with current technology for 2-3 years after your purchase since that's the standard contract length. For a desktop PC, it would be 3-8 years, and still be compatible with most modern technology and run games up to your expectations.

What happened with refined metal is that people realized that it really serves little purpose. 

Keys basically gained buying power while being worth roughly the same value it was ~5 years ago.

[MrDrWho13]

1 minute ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

What happened with refined metal is that people realized that it really serves little purpose. 

Keys basically gained buying power while being worth roughly the same value it was ~5 years ago.

And the game would keep dropping new items for players, effectively printing money.

[PlayStation 2]

3 minutes ago, MrDrWho13 said:

And the game would keep dropping new items for players, effectively printing money.

Yep; while regular craft hats have roughly stayed at the same metal price for ages (1.33 ref until a year or so ago) they started losing value relative to a key's buying power. Even the expensive hats and cosmetics like the Essential Accessories or the Doublecross-Comm lost value. Don't get me started on the Hat of Undeniable Wealth and Respect.

[Sauron]

Nothing, it's meaningless. Nothing in technology is "future-proof" because everything is obsolete within the year at most. Buying up from what you need in the hopes of having the system "last" longer is a waste of money. Even having more expansion options you don't need doesn't give you anything in the end, as standards evolve and a couple of years from now things like RAM and SSDs are liable to use a completely different standard at the top end (for example ddr4 vs ddr3, m.2/nvme vs sata, etc.).

[Yoinkerman]

Means someone's been drinking too much kool aid and needs a better way to spend their time.

 

See also bottleneck, minimum required CPU or GPU, and ways youtubers delineate results based on unrealistic graphics settings on video cards

[Lathlaer]

3 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Nothing, it's meaningless. Nothing in technology is "future-proof" because everything is obsolete within the year at most.

Really. 

 

So if I bought a 1440p G-sync monitor one year ago, it's obsolete? 

 

If I have a 6950X, it's obsolete?

 

People like to talk extremes but they need to understand that different parts of their PC have different life span when it comes to future proofing. 

 

You can easily future proof PSU, RAM, SSD, Monitors and peripherals. 

 

It WAS somewhat easy to future proof CPU if talking about 3-4y. span. Now it's more difficult but I still wouldn't say that people who bought their i7 6700k for gaming have been obsoleted in a year.

 

It is extremely difficult to future proof GPU.

[AncientNerd]

2 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

Really. 

 

So if I bought a 1440p G-sync monitor one year ago, it's obsolete? 

 

If I have a 6950X, it's obsolete?

 

People like to talk extremes but they need to understand that different parts of their PC have different life span when it comes to future proofing. 

 

You can easily future proof PSU, RAM, SSD, Monitors and peripherals. 

 

It WAS somewhat easy to future proof CPU if talking about 3-4y. span. Now it's more difficult but I still wouldn't say that people who bought their i7 6700k for gaming have been obsoleted in a year.

 

It is extremely difficult to future proof GPU.

Exactly this is exactly what I was trying to say - Great CPU & PSU, they will last longer. Plan your peripherals carefully and they can last buy you don't need to buy those up front because you can add them a bit at a time. Same with RAM and (larger) SSD.  Planned obsolescence for your GPU. 

[Sauron]

4 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

Really. 

 

So if I bought a 1440p G-sync monitor one year ago, it's obsolete? 

Yes, you can have higher refresh rate or higher color fidelity models now.

4 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

If I have a 6950X, it's obsolete?

Yes, especially since intel halved their price per core this year. Aside from that you're on an older, dead end platform with fewer features and have lower IPC and overclocking capabilities compared to current offerings.

6 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

You can easily future proof PSU, RAM, SSD, Monitors and peripherals. 

What does that even mean? The best ssd from last year is slower and lower capacity than this year's, same goes for ram. The concept doesn't apply to peripherals like keyboards, since performance hasn't been a relevant metric for those in decades (except perhaps for mice, but in that case new and better sensors come out constantly, so that's something that can't be "future proof"). Power supplies also improve in time to be more efficient, reliable and silent - if those metrics don't matter to you, then you also don't need to spend more on said power supply in hopes of "future proofing" as the lower end models are just as good as the premium ones when it comes to simply powering your system.

9 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

It WAS somewhat easy to future proof CPU if talking about 3-4y. span. Now it's more difficult but I still wouldn't say that people who bought their i7 6700k for gaming have been obsoleted in a year.

That's hindsight, in 2011 you couldn't have known intel would sit on their ass for 4 years when it comes to performance - and even if you had known, newer platforms have more features and better power efficiency.

11 minutes ago, Lathlaer said:

It is extremely difficult to future proof GPU.

You can't future proof anything, so this is correct.