Why are bitwise shifts (<< and>>) used for cout and cin?

Question

Question is in the title really; I\'m sure there is something logical, but for now I\'m stumped!

Answer 1

>> and << are just operators and you can implement your own >> and << for your classes.

I suppose "somebody" selected them because: a) they are similar to shell file operations and b) to reuse existing operators because there are no need to create new ones