If you think XML is bad

Then consider this, as it could be a lot worse:

UNA:+.? 'UNB+UNOC:2+STUB+BLA+960209:0843+72'UNH+0000090001+ORDERS:D:93A:UN:EAN007'BGM+220+B00404'DTM+137:19960209:102'NAD+BY+++STADT- UND UNIVERSITAETSBIBLIOTHEK:FRANKFURT+BOCKENHEIMER LANDSTR. 134-138+FRANKFURT+++DE'RFF+API:DE114110388'RFF+IT:STUB'NAD+SU+++B.H.BLACKWELL'CUX+2:GBP:9'LIN+1'PIA+5+0471949086:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRQ+YYY:37.5:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:10'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8216'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+2'PIA+5+0471949000:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Cherry'IMD+F+011+:::Gordon E'IMD+F+050+:::Birmingham'IMD+F+060+:::a study in geography, hislanning'IMD+F+110+:::Chichester'IMD+F+120+:::Wiley(John)(W Sussex)'IMD+F+170+:::1994'IMD+F+180+:::254p'IMD+F+181+:::?: ill ; 24cm. - Bibl.?: P.237-244.'IMD+F+270+:::39100200?:Urban studies'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:37.5:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:9'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8217'RFF+BFN:S.KON.39'LIN+3'PIA+5+0471957542:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:45:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:11'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8218'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+4'PIA+5+0521435145:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:65:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:13'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8220'RFF+BFN:S.KON.07'LIN+5'PIA+5+0077090632:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Wenlock'IMD+F+011+:::Alison'IMD+F+050+:::The AS/400'IMD+F+060+:::built for business'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::McGraw-Hill Book Co in Europe'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::134p'IMD+F+181+:::; 25cm. - Index'IMD+F+190+:::The IBM McGraw-Hill series'IMD+F+270+:::61100200?:Computers'IMD+F+300+:::1st Series Id?:E1678043'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:24.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:1'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8221'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+6'PIA+5+0521474620:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:65:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:14'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8222'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+7'PIA+5+0133361993:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Shepperd'IMD+F+011+:::Martin'IMD+F+050+:::Foundations of software measurement'IMD+F+110+:::Hemel Hempstead'IMD+F+120+:::Prentice-Hall Interl Inc'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::234p'IMD+F+181+:::; 24cm. - Bibls. - Index'IMD+F+270+:::61305050?:Software engineering'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:19.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:3'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8224'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'LIN+8'PIA+5+0198549512:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Evans'IMD+F+011+:::Julian'IMD+F+050+:::A wood of our own'IMD+F+110+:::Oxford'IMD+F+120+:::Oxford University Press'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::158p'IMD+F+181+:::?: ill ; 25cm'IMD+F+270+:::76020000?:Forestry'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:Julian Evans ; with illustrati:ions by John White and Stephen Evan'IMD+F+300+:::s'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:17.99:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:4'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8225'RFF+BFN:S.KON.23'LIN+9'PIA+5+0333628896:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Barraclough'IMD+F+011+:::Solon L'IMD+F+050+:::Forests and livelihoods'IMD+F+060+:::the social dynamics of den in devel:oping countries'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::259p'IMD+F+181+:::; 23cm. - Bibl.?: p.245-253. - Inde'IMD+F+270+:::76302500?:Tropical forests'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:by Solon L. Barraclough and Kr:rishna B. Ghimire'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:45:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:6'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8227'RFF+BFN:S.KON.23'LIN+10'PIA+5+0333645545:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Tyrrell'IMD+F+011+:::A J'IMD+F+050+:::Eiffel object-oriented programming'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::283p'IMD+F+181+:::; 24cm. - Bibl.?: p.281. - Index'IMD+F+190+:::Macmillan computer science series'IMD+F+270+:::61305015?:Object-oriented programmin:g'IMD+F+300+:::1st Series Id?:E1108662'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:16.99:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:7'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8228'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'UNS+S'CNT+2:10'UNT+165+0000090001'UNH+0000170001+ORDERS:D:93A:UN:EAN007'BGM+224+B00405'DTM+137:19960209:102'NAD+BY+++STADT- UND UNIVERSITAETSBIBLIOTHEK:FRANKFURT+BOCKENHEIMER LANDSTR. 134-138+FRANKFURT+++DE'RFF+API:DE114110388'RFF+IT:STUB'NAD+SU+++B.H.BLACKWELL'CUX+2:GBP:9'LIN+1'PIA+5+0471960047:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:40:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:12'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8219'RFF+BFN:S.KON.E.631'LIN+2'PIA+5+0126487200:IB'IMD+F+050+:::The Multimedia dictionary'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Academic Press'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::351p'IMD+F+181+:::; ; 23cm'IMD+F+270+:::61756500?:Multi-media applications'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:edited by H. Sleurink'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDLIBE'PRI+YYY:19.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:2'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8223'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'LIN+3'PIA+5+0333556453:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Medema'IMD+F+011+:::Steven G'IMD+F+050+:::Ronald H. Coase'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1994'IMD+F+180+:::205p'IMD+F+181+:::; 23cm. - Bibl.?: p.192-203. - Inde'IMD+F+270+:::27651202?:Economic analysis/theory'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDLIBE'PRI+YYY:40:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:5'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8226'RFF+BFN:S.KON.07'UNS+S'CNT+2:3'UNT+55+0000170001'UNZ+2+72'

>>16
it is not binary so it is platform independant
That makes no sense. Ignoring endianness issues, binary files are platform independent.

Binary files are also as clear and consistent as XML. It's totally unnecessary to make your files human readable unless you actually intend for humans to edit them (e.g. config files). How many people are going to manually edit a putatively editable ODF file? None. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't figure out how. For all that it's made of readable letters, it's harder to read than a binary file in a hex editor.