I'd argue the top of the pyramid is actually formats such as HDF5. That format was started to store voyager data and we can still read it after more than 40 yea

I'd argue the top of the pyramid is actually formats such as HDF5. That format was started to store voyager data and we can still read it after more than 40 years. It makes the format of entries extremely clear ("this is an 3d array of floating point numbers in IEEE755 format, with 64, 2 and 17 entries per dimension") and encourages further meat data ("it is in statV per centimeter and came out of channel of of the intrument") in addition to naming the data set "electric field". Compared to horrible piles of binary data that used to be common (and still are!), it's a breeze of fresh air to work with.