[hilbert42]

"Simple, cost."

That lack of consideration for users' data will ultimately lead to regulation. Much of a user's data is only machine-readable, so ordinary users shouldn't be expected to know when their data is truncated after say data conversion. They aren't responsible for realizing their data is corrupted long after the event and past the point where it can be corrected.

It's like everything else, originally there's the Wild West days when everything's a free-for-all, but regulations eventually kick in after the harm done is considered unacceptable. We've seen regulations introduced everywhere else, from foods—pure food acts, pharmaceutical—FDA, transport—NTSB, Water purity standards and so on. So eventually computing/IT will be no exception.

Unfortunately, computing/IT is still in the 'Wild West' days. Personally, I can hardly wait for those enforced regulations to become effective.