Quadropods? Seriously?

[AUZambo]

I was thumbing through my latest issue of Digital Photo Pro this morning and noticed a company has released a quadropod claiming the 4th leg increases stability.

I'm a math teacher and one of the first things you teach in a geometry class is that any three points always share a plane - which is why tripods and three legged stools are always stable. When you introduce a 4th leg you run the risk of rocking.

Why in the world would they claim a 4th leg increases stability?

 

[Overread]

Marketing
more legs means more stability - its like more megapixels

though you have to bare in mind that a stool is a fixed set of 3 legs - the legs cannot chaneg lengths. On a tripod the legs can change lengths and I can see the logic in a 4th adjustable leg giving additional stabilty in some situations.
That said weight of the basic setup is going to go up as is setup time - and the increase in stabilty might only be noticable to landscapers setting up in hurricanes.

 

[Steph]

Why in the world would they claim a 4th leg increases stability?

Marketing purposes maybe?