The camera makers send the same message; Upgrade to our newest, latest gear each year and your work will be so much better. They do not say that exactly, but the message is clear - newer is always better. Take a look at the used equipment lists, full of perfectly capable and functional gear that has been traded in for the latest whiz-bang flashy cameras with more megapixels and bigger menus full of features that few use. Many thinking this new gear is their final step to becoming a real "pro."

Reminds me of a close friend of mine who was a golfer. When a big name pro golfer would win a big tournament, my friend would immediately sell his clubs and purchase whatever set the pro had used. Funny though, I never heard of him practicing or spending hours training with his gear. His game never made great improvements, but over the 10-15 years I knew him, he must have had at least a dozen different sets of clubs.

Only Polaroids produce SOOC.
Digital cameras produce DATA.
It is up to you if you want that data edited by some recipe backed into the camera by some Japanese guy or edited by yourself.
When you used to shoot negatives, they were edited by some Lab guy.
So... When you shoot Polaroids - or jpegs - , you always hire someone to do your edits.
Digital cameras present you with the unique opportunity to extract the original data from the camera and learn how to do the developing thing by yourself and unleash all your creativity.

It almost sounds as if you have no idea as to the difference between RAW and JPEG. I started taking photographs in the 1960's with a Brownie 127. My first SLR, which I was given in 1970, was a Practica Nova 1B. It did not have a built in light meter, I had to learn about light, the exposure triangle etc., so I'm not exactly new to photography. I shoot RAW all the time: I would not purchase an expensive audio system, then add a cheap pair of speakers, so why would I shoot JPEG? Photography is an art form and processing is also an art form.