>>1
HTTP is good stuff, the people who created it are brilliant and 90% of the time your app should use HTTP instead of whatever dumb protocol you were going to use. The only real problem with it is TCP slow start.
HTTP is also easy to work with using simple tools like netcat (the BSD version kicks GNU netcat's ass), telnet, and curl. HTTP beats the pants off FTP, with the sole caveat that most people don't know how to configure an HTTP server (or client, for that matter) for uploads. (Hint: curl -T)
Speaking of which, why is it that enterprise folks love making RPC endpoints accessible via HTTP and calling it a "REST interface"? Are they just syphilitic degenerates, or is it that hard to think straight with the marketing department's dick that far up their nostrils? REST is pretty much the opposite of RPC, in terms of interface design methodologies.