It's important to be able to build development tools that operate on all types of records, not just one in particular. For example, if I want to build a debugger that is able to print out the contents of record structures in a uniform way, I need a standard way to ask any record for its contents, for its RTD, etc. The debugger should not have to be extended every time a new record type is defined. While most programs may not make use of this facility, its controlled use is powerful and useful.