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[Ritter]

I think we are looking at the problem from the wrong angle. I've seen different operating systems and different RIPs (and therefore output devices) produce completely different results from the same fonts. We live in a world of constantly changing software but the main variable/problem here is fonts not the PDF. This problem will continue to exist into the future as far out as I can see. Opentype, TrueType, Postscript, etc. etc. are supported by various operating systems, various RIPs and come with various license restrictions. We in the prepress world currently have to contend with files created with at a minimum from the following operating system combinations OS X, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, x.5, 9.1, 9, 8.6, 8; Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98 (to include various service pack versions of each). Each supports different types of fonts, some cross compatible, others not. Further legacy support varies even more (at least once every other month I have an Apple user trying to send bitmap fonts). Take into consideration RIP technology and drivers and protocols for network and attached printers and you've got a variable cluster***. The move towards OpenType was a HUGE shift forward and gives some hope that things will get better. We will continue to deal with these issues on a day to day basis until standardization sets in and legacy support for these old formats dies out. One thing that could definitely speed up this progress would be to <ducking under desk from typophiles> drastically lower the price of these large font packages </duck> in order to proliferate them to the masses. The bad news is we have to support legacy files and reflow among other problems is going to be the result sometimes. The good news is that the vendors (albeit very slowly and grudgingly) are working towards the same goal of standardization.

A few things that can clear up this headache...
Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Quark, etc. PDF export/distill presets can have the absolutely useless function of "never embed" or "don't embed" removed and if a font won't embed due to licensing have an error message and refuse to produce a PDF. A PDF without embedded fonts is virtually worthless for web, e-mail, document storage (how many years until that font cannot be found at all), and especially print.