Yeah, the cutting edge has benefits but there is usually some cost to being there.
I love new technology but am not willing to pay sufficiently for it to get too close to that edge. There was a time when I pursued that edge (who remembers HI8 when it was a gazillion times better than VHS-C ?) but have retreated from that over the years. Plus, I absolutely hate to move to anything too new, regarding consumer electronics, because they are so fickle. So I tend to lag behind in hardware, using software and methodology to make changes until something forces me forward, and then I do it is a large step.
The last main TV was getting long in the tooth, and was a CRT when it died. So in buying a new TV not only did we go digital, but of course into HD as well, and those two changes required an entire system change: new sound system, new cable service, Blu Ray and so forth. Then the learning curve followed and I do not think we ended up using the Blu Ray player 5 times. As I said, the learning curve....
So we live pretty comfortably 2 or more steps behind, and always seem to get by by making adapting. The point is that I actively avoid exactly what you describe.
It is all slick but I have found the costs (multiple: money of course, but also frustration, using almost all my bad words, having all kinds of general 'house population' problems using the system and worse yet, putting it in some mode or another that takes me days or weeks to escape from, etc.) are a bit too high.
But back in the days when I was actively pursuing that stuff, it was pretty slick. Best of luck and more important, lots of enjoyment from it.
Brian
Audio Video systems going obsolete...
I bought a Bluray movie the other day and it's a 4K movie which means I now have to buy a new 4K TV and...a new 4K disc player, so I started researching the newest TV's and decided I wanted an OLED TV (seemingly rated as the best picture) and as I researched the TV's I discovered that the new 4K movies are encoded with HDCP 2.2 (a new copy protection scheme) so I started researching HDCP 2.2 only to learn that all of the components in the system must comply with HDCP 2.2 or the movie won't play...great so now this means I also will need a new receiver...so I found a receiver that I want and while researching receivers I find that there is a new sound format called Dolby Atmos, so if I want the new movies to sound as intended I need new speakers...I figure somewhere around $10.546 to have an upgraded system ready for 4K movies with Dolbt Atmos sound tracks...but I know that at next years Consumer Electronics Show something even newer and greater will be revealed.