In the past we faced one distinct problem in regards to using computers in day-to-day life – they simply didn’t fit. Computers were supposed to make our lives easier, and in many ways they did, but they also introduced new problems. People had to learn how to use a computer, what the steps were for making something happen. Want to create a poster? You’ll need to use A4 paper with a white border around the edge because the printer won’t print that far. What to cross-reference two datasheets? Better to have them in one file, as opening two windows in Excel isn’t obvious, and then you need to learn what a VLOOKUP is and how it works, and don’t forget that the data may not display correctly until you save the file again. (That’s really a thing, Google it!). Want to write sheet music? Good luck!

So we ended up fitting our needs around what the technology allows us to do. Fine, I’ll change my poster background to be white to avoid the border issue, and therefore change my whole design accordingly. I’ll learn how to copy a sheet from one Excel file to another, and find online guides about how to use VLOOKUP. I’ll laboriously input each note into my sheet music individually and…oh, sod it, I’ll hand-write it on paper.

Even our interface with our computers was less than ideal – the concept of the mouse was great back in the day, but it removes you from your device. You end up interacting with the mouse, with the hardware, rather than your data, your content, your creation.

Of course, these days the mouse is looking a little obsolete. In the age of iPads and smartphones, we can interact directly with the information on the screen via Apple’s greatest invention, the finger! Steve Jobs’ idea that we don’t need even a stylus when we have our own in-built pointing devices holds up for a great many things, but even Apple have realised that there has to be some requirement for interface tools. The advent of the Apple Pencil shows that Microsoft weren’t wrong to include a stylus with their Microsoft Surface devices. After all, before tablets, before portable computers at all, we weren’t writing with our fingers. We’re used to pens and pencils, in all their shapes and forms.

So are we finally reaching a point where the technology is as intuitive and direct as when we used pads of paper? Certainly, if the launch event for the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is any indicator, we’re very, very close. I present to you exhibit A, StaffPad. (I’ll preface this by saying I haven’t yet used the software myself, but the demos look amazing.)

The ability to write music just as you would on a piece of paper and have the technology translate that for you, to modify any aspect with a simple movement of your pen or your finger, and combined with the normal notation software functions of having all of that played back to you as you need and printing whole scores or individual parts, well, it just makes for a very simple and powerful experience.

Are we past the days of needing to learn how to use the technology? Definitely not, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction, and I am really looking forward to the day when we finally reach the point where the technology fully integrates with our needs without dictating our process.