Hi Bryan,

Thanks for your excellent comments!

>>    * JSON Version: format your data using JSON. 
>> That will make your data consumable by JavaScript 
>> and Ajax applications.

> XML is generally consumable by the same environments 
> that JSON is consumable by, furthermore both JSON and 
> XML are hierarchical in nature.

I talk a bit about this in my article, "Why JSON is Important to You!"
(http://www.xfront.com/json/).  Here's the relevant section:

But Ajax Applications Can Process Data Formatted as XML, so Why Bother
With JSON?

If the data is formatted as XML then Ajax is limited to fetching data
from the same domain (website) that the Ajax application came from.

If the data is formatted as JSON then Ajax can travel across domains.
That is, Ajax can access data from anywhere. Think of the power of
this: a single Ajax application, running in your browser, can reach out
and grab data from an unlimited number of web services, and present it
in your browser in a coherent fashion. Awesome!

/Roger