I must repeat, I am not against DNG. I hope Adobe works out everything with the camera manufacturers. If they don't...or if it takes time, I am not unhappy with where we are at the moment....but I tired of the continual harassment on the part of you and Andrew.
And Andrew and I are tired of photographers giving Nikon and Canon a pass...so there ya go.
[/quote]The images that survive in their current form will have needed special handling and preservation. In my opinion, that negates your argument.[/quote]
Again, reread the sustainability factors–the current wide variety of undocumented, proprietary raw files formats do indeed need special conservation and preservation because there are so many different formats and varieties and that adds to the risk that those files won't be accessable in 50-100 years. That is the problem noted in the problem of adoption:
Adoption refers to the degree to which the format is already used by the primary creators, disseminators, or users of information resources. This includes use as a master format, for delivery to end users, and as a means of interchange between systems. If a format is widely adopted, it is less likely to become obsolete rapidly, and tools for migration and emulation are more likely to emerge from industry without specific investment by archival institutions.
Clearly if there were a standard raw file format standard, the likelihood that those digital object would be easier to conserve & preserve.
Look, do you agree that the current behavior of Nikon and Canon are not in the best interest of the photographic community (and here I'm talking photographers, not camera companies)? How can you possibly think the current state of raw file formats is a good thing?