Where did DNG go?

Adobe launched .DNG in 2004 as a unifying RAW format. Except for the release of Adobe DNG Camera Raw (4.4.1 now) – which I have installed but don't ever really use – I haven't heard very much about DNG since. Every camera manufacturer is still shipping its own RAW flavor, afaik.

Was Adobe's ".DNG initiative" factually a non-starter?

And – more practically – can I de-install Adobe DNG Camera Raw and trash it (and recover some HD real estate)? Or is there still a future for it?
In my workflow CS3 handles all RAW files with a Camera Raw.plugin. Which seems to be handling all RAW flavors I have sofar thrown at it fine. So do I still need the Adobe DNG Camera Raw stand alone app? Did I ever?

 

Just this morning I had bridge bail while I was downloading images and converting them to DNG. 5 of them didn't get converted and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to save something in DNG without using their little download.

I think adobe's heart's in the right place and, personally, I'm using DNG. I'm not sure, honestly, what anyone else uses so I may be terribly misguided. They seem to load faster, though. I could be imagining things.

I'm not sure how much real-estate you'll get back, though. Their tool occupies about as much drive space as one raw image.

 

Thanks. So I guess I can trash the installed app, and retain the install disk image for emergencies.

 

I have heard some cameras do use the DNG format. Personally I prefer Open Raw shich is another format - more open than DNG.

 

I don't think the app was ever needed. DNG isn't dead especially if you use Lightroom, but every app that uses DNG seems to be able to convert it itself. I never found a use for the converter.

DNG is a classic problem of good idea with lack of industry support. I still can't help but thinking only positive things will come from the entire camera industry adopting DNG as a standard, but it just hasn't happened.

 

Just this week I saw an article that Adobe has submitted their DNG format to the international ISO standards body for ratification as an official standard. It'd be a big step towards helping it take off, but this stuff can take years to work out, so wouldn't hold your breathe.