Nice write up Simon. This seems more accepting of structured XML data management approaches than I've come to expect from you recently. Something going on or is this just an anomaly?
I think you might have misread Simon in his posts challenging the XML community. He has never that I've seen put down XML's basic usefulness for semi-structured, open data expression. Your characterization as "structured XML data management approaches," however, is another kettle of fish, and not a way of putting it that I think communicates XML's strengths.
Simon's main complaint has been with the culture of rigid schematics, and with the bleed-in of the imperative programmer's mindset into XML (notice that he gives a positive mention of XSLT and XProc, which at least in their initial forms stayed away from imperative style). It seems to me that this article continues his points consistently.
