I thought the same but what are the alternatives? Use a format like json? What happens when the format can't express what I want? The other issue is the output is now deeply intertwined with the program because it's now an API, although the same could be said about text output.
PowerShell gives a good alternative: the things passed between the programs should be objects. It requires, of course, that everything is communicating with a common runtime, but for a shell that is not the biggest burden.
