As mentioned above, some standard formats hide the actual format of the file and force the user to use a standard software package to access it. In addition to the performance problems this entails, the user is also left dependent upon the efforts of the group writing the package to create a version for his or her language or computer system of choice.
This group usually takes the position, ``With our limited resources, we cannot support every language/machine in existence, and there is just not enough demand for the version you want.'' Of course, without a version for that language or machine, demand stays low, and the standard format remains unused.