The inherent ambiguity of many control characters, combined with their historical usage, created problems when transferring "plain text" files between systems.
ðɪ ɪnhˈiəɹənt ˌæmbɪɡjˈuːɪɾi ʌv mˈɛni kəntɹˈoʊl kˈæɹɪktɚz, kəmbˈaɪnd wɪð ðɛɹ hɪstˈɔːɹɪkəl jˈuːsɪdʒ, kɹiːˈeɪɾᵻd pɹˈɑːbləmz wɛn tɹænsfˈɜːɹɪŋ "plˈeɪn tˈɛkst" fˈaɪlz bᵻtwˌiːn sˈɪstəmz.