I don't necessarily disagree with you, I just always prefer to sit more on the side of 'don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to'. I don't think creating a

I don't necessarily disagree with you, I just always prefer to sit more on the side of 'don't reinvent the wheel if you don't have to'. I don't think creating an n-th competing format is the answer here. In the examples in your final paragraph, surely what is needed there is a new tool, not a new data format? I think the larger 'problem' (if it really is a problem, and not just hackers wanting to believe they know the One True Way) is that there is no such thing as the typical 'scientist'. Every small sub-discipline has its own needs, its own standards that it has settled on and its own toolchain. There is definitely room for improvement within every one of these small areas, but there's no global problem that needs solving.