[zenbowman]

In most cases, readability is not a concern for inter-program messaging. A good logging system in your program should take care of the readability concerns. I've never come across a single instance of a text format for interprogram messaging not having to be rewritten in a binary format once it becomes obvious that it is a huge waste of computing resources.

As Alan Kay suggested, it the total and deliberate ignorance of lessons learned from our history that has made modern programming into a pop-culture phenomenon.