Is it really necessary? How much is he gonna save, especially since he still rounds to bytes and doesn't use compression?
If we use compression, I recommend it be optional for a client.
[...]
I agree. It's yet another serialization.
I would extend this further:
Don't let use fight over the right compression or binary format.
Let's make it configurable, so
it can be off
or
slim can be on
or
lzw can be on
or etc. etc.
And after a while, we will see which way will become the most dominant format. And even newcomers could be easily introduced and tested by the clients.