My point was that it's not fair to point to BSTR's as an example of how the len+data approach is bad because BSTR's force you to do both and (in my opinion) end

My point was that it's not fair to point to BSTR's as an example of how the len+data approach is bad because BSTR's force you to do both and (in my opinion) end up having the drawbacks of both approaches and the benefits of neither.