What a load of useless bollocks. None of this garbage has anything to do with being "future proof." What does is using open standards, formats, and protocols, and keeping sufficient control over any 'cloud' services you use so that when it's time to take another step on the upgrade treadmill and the /corporate/ landscape of technology has inevitably changed, you don't have to recycle your whole life in the transition. That and a solid, redundant automated backup strategy for anything you care about. Losing everything in the present is pretty disruptive to your future.I especially take exception to the computers section...that's just absolute hogwash. 1) First off, cheaping out on your power supply is a quick ticket to starting over from scratch. Second, why in hell would you start with a cheap prebuilt when the motherboard is the most important and difficult to transition component? Start by cheaping out on all the rest by all means, but buy a damn good motherboard the first time with all the features and capacity (usb/sata ports, pcie lanes, etc.) you can anticipate needing. You'll curse yourself later if you don't and have to rebuild the whole damn thing (including OS re-installation) AND buy an additional unexpected component after deciding it's time for a second video card or other newer component. A prebuilt is a surefire way to get base components with the least extensibility and longevity possible for your buck.2) See #1.3) For those of us who actually have uses for multiple machines, no *****. Did you think we were just going to throw it in the trash? For the rest of you who aren't hardcore geeks, give or sell that crap away to someone who can actually put it to use. If nothing else, give it to charitable programs.4) Cheap ram is the fastest route to terminally unstable computers. What's more, decent RAM in good quantities is still one of the cheapest components you need. If you want to save, start out with the lowest capacity at a good price point (probably still over 2 gigs).5) I've got computers with processors from the stone age that work marvelously alongside semi-recent video cards. 90% of what we do with out computers, including gaming, doesn't actually tax the CPU that much. Unless you're doing a lot of transcoding or professional work, make the CPU last a good long time, because it can.Bottom line: instead of playing Mr. Dress-up with your hardware, you can actually save a lot more by building a well-planned out machine from the start. Even with the pace of technology, a decently built computer at a moderate price point should still perform well for at least 5 years with only minor, low-pain and moderate-to-low-cost upgrades.And if the actual point of the article was just about getting the most for your frugal buck, Nick in the site comments had it right. Just buy previous generation mid-to-top-range stuff. The whole article was a glorified gadget/hardware buyer's guide from someone clearly *not* in the know, spewing a few generalized "truisms." The author might as well have said "If you know a lot about computers and the technology industry, you can make and plan better purchases." Here's another shocker: research actually yields insight in all kinds of fields, careers, societies, etc.