Yep, plywood gets a bad rap: it's incredibly strong stuff. Aircraft plywood can be used to build entire aircraft, marine plywood can withstand harsh weather conditions for years, and birch or hardwood plywood can look very pretty.
Some plywood is amazing. Most is crap. Generally the stuff you buy at home depot for $25/sheet is crap.
And people tend to confuse plywood with OSB, MDO, MDF, etc.
And while marine plywood (BS-1088) is great stuff, and fir marine plywood is also pretty nice stuff, it's not magic. BS-1088 is will rot in a morning dew and fir checks horribly. You have to protect it carefully and keep it protected.
