I would imagine that any syntax transformation can't be much better (if at all) than a simple text compression algorithm, so I don't think disk size should be a

I would imagine that any syntax transformation can't be much better (if at all) than a simple text compression algorithm, so I don't think disk size should be a design endpoint. But the amount of information that fits on one screen without scrolling is also part of readability, because understanding why something is there can be as important as understanding its literal meaning.