Not future-proofing • Hacker News Board

Re: Not future-proofing

#31

Post by feet » Sat, Jun 25, 2022, 11:24 AM UTC

quesera wrote: post #24

KK> I am trying to think of examples of successful future proofing. Where someone figured out what was coming and built something ready for it. Do you know any examples? Commercial construction. Don't try to predict the future. Reduce the structural essentials to their minimum requirements (columns, beams, trusses, pans), and make it easy to adapt the finish layer to changing preferences or use cases. Drop ceilings,…

Would you really want to live in a building like that?

Doesn't seem like it would be pleasant

Re: Not future-proofing

#32

Post by pooper » Sat, Jun 25, 2022, 12:16 PM UTC

feet wrote: post #31

quesera wrote: post #24

KK> I am trying to think of examples of successful future proofing. Where someone figured out what was coming and built something ready for it. Do you know any examples? Commercial construction. Don't try to predict the future. Reduce the structural essentials to their minimum requirements (columns, beams, trusses, pans), and make it easy to adapt the finish layer to changing preferences or use cases. Drop ceilings,…

Would you really want to live in a building like that? Doesn't seem like it would be pleasant

You can still use dry wall later and if you use decent noise dampening and insulation between two layers of drywall, it should work.

It will be expensive for sure though. I think huge building with electrical wiring, plumbing (including waste?) and networking at every pillar, and independent ductwork/sensors for climate control from the to be drop ceiling so I can essentially remodel however I want for the next owner sounds like a dream but a very expensive dream.

Re: Not future-proofing

#33

Post by slategruen » Sat, Jun 25, 2022, 12:39 PM UTC

quesera wrote: post #24

KK> I am trying to think of examples of successful future proofing. Where someone figured out what was coming and built something ready for it. Do you know any examples? Commercial construction. Don't try to predict the future. Reduce the structural essentials to their minimum requirements (columns, beams, trusses, pans), and make it easy to adapt the finish layer to changing preferences or use cases. Drop ceilings,…

I wish more apartments were built like this. There's somewhat a construction boom in my country and a lot of residential spaces seem to try to be as beautiful (and modern) as possible to drive up prices. In the end, most units end up looking the same and quite restrictive. As a person who does DIY projects, it's very hard to fully maximize a space built like it's meant for a showroom.

Re: Not future-proofing

#34

Post by quesera » Sat, Jun 25, 2022, 4:21 PM UTC

feet wrote: post #31

quesera wrote: post #24

KK> I am trying to think of examples of successful future proofing. Where someone figured out what was coming and built something ready for it. Do you know any examples? Commercial construction. Don't try to predict the future. Reduce the structural essentials to their minimum requirements (columns, beams, trusses, pans), and make it easy to adapt the finish layer to changing preferences or use cases. Drop ceilings,…

Would you really want to live in a building like that? Doesn't seem like it would be pleasant

It actually adds more flexibility to the finish layer and layout design.

If you want to make things look like a traditional stick-built house with load-bearing walls, you can do that. It's not the only way, but it's an option.

If the next owner wants something different, that's also available -- and not very expensive to change. Non-load-bearing walls and drywall and cheap and quick to demo/rebuild. Flooring material is a bit more effort and cost, esp if not carpet or polished concrete.

Literal drop ceilings with those fiberglass panels are pretty ugly, but there are many other options. I like wood, but it's expensive. You can always do drywall though, it's familiar, and relatively cheap to modify.

Re: Not future-proofing

#35

Post by kevinslin » Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 12:04 AM UTC

reminds me of the trend to containerize/micro-service/lambda things for *scale* - its usually just introduces unecessary complexity

used to work at AWS where I've worked with (and created) legacy services that failed to scale with rising usage (a good problem to have). Its not that these services were badly designed - rather, they were designed to meet the scale and constraints at a point in time. And that's okay

The future is hard to predict - so make it easy on yourself and solve the actual problems you have today vs hypothetical ones that might never materialize.

Especially in tech, by the time you do need to solve that problem, there will probably a better (serverless AI blockchain) technology that you can use to do it