[Sean Cole] "Realistic uses - I mean, if you want it to convert to EDL, what do you need the EDL for...... What DO people want EDLs for these days??"
Pretty much every colorist and DI house works with EDLs. Avid created a specially modified 16 character EDL for RED files because of this. Want to send a Baselight colorist an FCP project for grading? You will be asked for QT camera files and an EDL so they can conform and grade. Want to work with a CDL color grading list? This is basically an EDL with comments. Want to import a self-contained QT into a grading application and have the cuts "notched" at the edit points? EDLs are the common language. So yes, this almost 40-year-old format is still proving more versatile and alive than AAF, OMF and XML in many, many post applications.
Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com 
