@Duncan
"You think it's a replacement for CSV, a container for passing data between processes?"
ummmm... what else is data for? Except to pass between different programs.
Or do you like opening up those raw XML files in your text editor and bathing in its reflected human-(barely)-readable glory just for the heck of it?
I think the point is - XML has been over-hyped and over-abused as XML fans try to shoe-horn it into every single aspect of a system, even when it is *not* appropriate to use.