Boofer--I think you've described, essentially, my reason for the question. If, as you and I have both come to understand, that the moisture content is determined prior to pressing and that pressing does little to change that moisture content, then how hard I press shouldn't matter in that regard. Pressing's affect on density might be a reason to use different pressures, but it seems to me that if you want the curd completely knit/closed, then the density is also largely set by the curd moisture level and not really dependent on the pressure used. I can see applying a reduced pressure to leave an open structure--mechanical openings. But unless that small amount of difference in whey expelled due to pressing makes a big difference in final cheese texture/flavor/etc, I'm not convinced it really matters. If it appears I missed what you are saying, Boofer, please let me know.
Tiarella--thanks. I think there was a recent discussion that suggested pressing and acidification don't really have much to do with each other. I can see how applying a large pressure initially might expel some whey that, under a slower pressing regime, would still aid in acidification, though, i wonder if you still use a slow regime (going from lower to higher pressures), but you just keep going higher, will it make any difference?