Can we modify the "shopping" close reason to include more than just "out-of-date quickly"?

Question

Currently, the "shopping" close reason says

Questions seeking product or service recommendations are off-topic because they tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve.

This is true (especially for camera bodies!) there are other reasons, too. Could we modify this to something like?

Questions seeking product or service recommendations are off-topic because answers are highly dependent on individual preference and tend to become obsolete quickly. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve.

Or if we have space:

Questions seeking product or service recommendations are off-topic because answers are highly dependent on specific needs and individual preference. There are so many different camera lenses on the market because they all fit different needs and compromises. Also, camera recommendations tend to become obsolete quickly as new models replace older ones continuously. Instead, describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve.

(Note that I've also changed the target for embedded link to a meta post from the "QA is hard!" blog post, because while that covers a lot of the issues, I think its tone could be interpreted badly by new users.

Answer 1

How about something like:

Questions seeking specific product or service recommendations, where the answer is likely to be either entirely personal or short-lived as a result of changing markets, are generally off topic here. Please rephrase your question to describe the problem you're trying to solve or what you do not understand that prevents you from determining the answer yourself.

The phrasing might need some work, but what I'm trying to convey is the idea that the person should tell us why they can't make the choice so that we can help clear that up rather than choosing for them.

Answer 2

Product and service recommendations are highly dependent on individual situations. There are so many lenses on the market because each fills some need. Camera recommendations become obsolete quickly as new models replace older ones continuously. Instead, describe the specific problem you're trying to solve; a product or service may be the answer.

349 characters, by taking out the link. :)

Answer 3

No, this is unneeded. If there isn't enough detail to make a clear answer, the question shouldn't be closed as off topic for being a product recommendation, it should be closed as either "primarily opinion based" if they scope their situation well, but there is no supportable subjective answer (see good subjective/bad subjective) or as "unclear what you are asking" if they don't provide enough detail to answer the question meaningfully.

Off-topic for reasons of product recommendation only really applies when the question IS well scoped, however the answer would not remain valid over time.

Though as mattdm did point out in comments, I suppose it is a little too definitive as some product recommendations may not change quickly. Perhaps changing to this would be good:

Questions seeking product or service recommendations are generally off-topic as they may become obsolete quickly. It is better to describe your situation and the specific problem you're trying to solve so that guidance can be given that will work long term or at least narrowing it down to a few specific products to compare.

My only concern with such a change would be that it could invite debate about if something is really "likely to change quickly." That's kind of why I like the current standard of closing any "What product should I use for A?" but allowing questions like "Which product of x, y, z is better for A?". It is possible the former may change tomorrow, but nothing is going to change which of x, y and z is better for the situation.