How future proof are your home entertainment systems?

[tron3]

Your immediate knee jerk reaction may be to quip that no piece of home electronics is future proof. More thoughtful responses will point out that many of us are enjoying prolonged "like new" status with the advent of firmware updates. Oh, how we love a good firmware upgrade. Then there some audiophiles who are fond to point out their BOSE super stereo speakers, and wot not, are still going strong after 20 or 30 years. Face it, everything gets old even if it isn't worn out.

We all go through the "my stuff is better than yours" phase. Some of us may recall laughing at LP record and 8-track tape owners because we had cassette which was the future. Still others were CD affectionados and simply chirp laughter under our breath for people with anything less. "Boy, glad I never bought into that." Then there is the MP3 generation who only think of CD's as a backup and don't wish to own them, just borrow them to make their MP3's or d/l them from your favorite web site.

I was too young to adopt records, or 8-track tapes. Cassette was barely used except for sheer personal use. And I never bought into CD's though the storage capacity is what impressed me. I was "lucky" enough to buy a VHS player and have it become the winning format over BetaMax. But, my VHS video collection couldn't be more than about 20 various tapes with dozens more used for personal recording of TV shows.

I finally bought into DVD when my brother bought me TRON on DVD in liue of paying back the 20 bucks he borrowed. Being a favorite movie of mine for obvious reaons, it finally prompted the purchase of DVD players. I thought I was smart because I KNEW that one day all tv's would be widescreen. So, I only bought widescreen DVD. Today I hold DVD with nearly as much disdain as I have for VHS. Thank you Lord for blu-ray.

The younger folk are lucky for not having to bear the burden of owning obsolete technology. After all, this is the piracy age. Get almost anything you want off the internet for free. Or copy it from a friend. You are the "throw it away" generation who rather just buy new when that two year old unit breaks but could be repaired. Yet remember, that iphone and great ipod one day becomes a relic of the past - like Sony's AM/FM Walkman with cassette!

Yep, the "medialess" digital age certainly is fool proof, isn't it? That is until your hard drive crashes and you lose everything.