re: Parents are having a new home built - how should they have it wired?

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The future is wireless mesh networks, not wired connections. Unless your house is divided up by concrete partitions I would just focus on making sure that wherever your main router will reside is wired in a manner that allows for easy upgrades to future Ethernet / fiber optic cable runs from your provider.

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Sorry, but this is just bad advice. No one will ever wish they had run less cable, but almost everyone wishes they had run more at some point.

Aside from the fact that wireless consistency and reliability will never match wired, physical cable can transmit power as well as data. PoE is incredibly useful already, and it will only become more so in the near future. So really I would not only run cat6 to where I expect to put TVs, cameras, and computers, but I would also run it everywhere there is a light switch or light fixture, and doors & windows. PoE smart lighting, temp/humidity/brightness/presence detection, touchpanels, pervasive sound/mic and bluetooth, powered window blinds, window and door alarm contacts, etc. The list of low power applications goes on and on, and it will only grow larger as we dream up new ideas. Not to mention any of these devices can also serve as a wifi access point, providing wifi coverage that will beat any mesh system hands down.

Yes, the future is about more cable, not less.