RAW often gives you what you need to cast aside, non just compensate for: compression, noise filtering, incompatible color saturation from pixel to pixel, and with digital sensors when compared with film very poor gray scale rendering. Digital is all about compromised color and color contrast.
Every film scanner I have ever owned worked with less headaches when I used the software shipped with it. The folks who made them did them homework.
The same applies with JPEG in digital cameras. JPEG has improved tremendously over the years. I was using scanners when JPEG was in its infancy, and it just ain't the same.
JPEG works on the notion that software can compress image areas more that have less information, like a blue sky.
I don't want to waste my time with that!
It's like the RAW folks want me to go back to the world before digital ICE. Sure I can do it better by hand, but for God's sake, WHY?