eric_
I totally agree with what you wrote but if each contributor starts using different specifications, it'll necessarily restrict some OSM uses, and therefore its adoption. That's why we chose deliberately to stick with the current OSM specifications. Even if they are incomplete in some aspects, their use in a kind of homogeneous way should normally help OSM users/data consumers, independently from their point of view (here architectural or "current view" -- it's easy in this context to adopt a data model/specification which would allow to map both).
I'm going to close this note, but if you want to go on this discussion, do not hesitate to do it via the UK mailing-list or a private message.