synkrotron
Might sound a bit flippant, that, but what I am trying to get across is, SONAR is one hell of a tool that can do many things in many different ways. As has already been mentioned, take twenty experienced DAW users and you will have twenty totally different ways of working.

 
A guy walks into Guitar Center and buys a Strat. A week later, he comes back in to return it. "This guitar sucks, I've had it for a week and I don't play at all like Jimi Hendrix."
 
DAWs virtualize a studio that would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even a million dollars, not that long ago. It's just as hard to learn a DAW as it was to walk into a studio cold and expect to use the console, patch bay, outboard gear, tape sync, etc. 
 
I think the biggest problem with "how to get people started" is there are many points of entry. One person might just want to work with loops, another record audio, another use MIDI instruments for scoring, another do audio for a commercial, another do narration with heavy edits and dialog, etc. 
 
And I agree a manual is super-daunting. so here are two tips.
 
1. Work with a program to the best of your abilities until you get hung up on something. At that point, search the documentation, find the answer to your specific question, and get back to work. Sure, you could come to the forum and ask...but the documentation will fill in other info that someone answering one question might not provide.
 
2. Like a musical instrument, you need to practice. Set aside 10 minutes and read a portion of the documentation that looks interesting. When I answer questions in the forum, I don't always have an answer. Instead, I try to do what people think they can't do, check into the documentation, and if I come up with an answer, I pass it along. In the process, I learn something.

Anderton
snip

Totally agree with all you said, Craig.

I think we all know that these things are complicated, and I think we can generally agree on why things are the way they are today.  This thread provided some interesting viewpoints on the topic.
 
The original question asked here was:
 
What would make DAWs easier to use?
 
I imagine that the first person that really figures this out in a significant and useful way will make millions...

Not to be a ass, but what would make DAWs simpler to use would be for people to RTFM.

Face it. This is complicated stuff. There is a certain amount of prerequisite knowledge required. You might as well ask what would make physics easier. There is a whole host of stuff you need to know first.

I actually had a rather easy time of learning SONAR because I RTFM for everything, every step of tbe way, instead of diving in headfirst and making a bu ch of unwarranted assumptions first.

bdickens
Not to be a ass, but what would make DAWs simpler to use would be for people to RTFM.

it does sound a bit arrogant that way, but you are right.
I kind of like that one must learn the tricks of the trade in order to use a DAW.
As it is now I feel ripped off that my generation had to actually learn an instrument and couldn't draw in notes, or use  purchased loops to create their "Song".
I don't know, maybe im jealous, haven't figured that one out yet.
 
All I know is the second you open the door to a "Paint by number" DAW your going to lose your die hard following.
And how many customers will you gain ? Probably about as many as you lose by dumming down a DAW.
 
I've always looked at my craft as something I am very proud of and something I have earned with many years experience.  Take that a way and give someone a way to make music with a remote control (Like a TV) and you are bound to PO some users.
 
The Digital audio workstation has been the biggest double edge sword of all to us producers.
While it has made life extremely easy for us, it has pulled food right from our mouths.
People who ran a profitable studio have run in to hard times competing with "Everyone can be a producer in their bedroom".
Sure the results are not as good as a pro studio is but people don't mind skimping on quality to save money.
The gear I paid 1000's of dollars for was an investment and would easily pay for itself with paying clients. 
Not anymore. Where there used to be thousands and thousands of studios, now there are only 1/8 that and some of those studios specialize in send by mail mixing and mastering. So lets pull going to the studio to record our bare tracks out of the equation. not 1/4 people do that anymore. they record bare bones in there own studios and send those out to be warmed up with analog gear for a good mix. So back to our point... How do we make a simpler DAW ? We don't.

Not everyone can make music using Software and I think this idea that Software should be easier so that any Joe and start making music is as detrimental to music as drinking and driving is detrimental to others on a roadway.

Do we want to use the software for Professionals or the Software every body uses?

bdickens
Not to be a ass, but what would make DAWs simpler to use would be for people to RTFM.

Face it. This is complicated stuff. There is a certain amount of prerequisite knowledge required. You might as well ask what would make physics easier. There is a whole host of stuff you need to know first.

I actually had a rather easy time of learning SONAR because I RTFM for everything, every step of tbe way, instead of diving in headfirst and making a bu ch of unwarranted assumptions first.

I don't think that you are, but I think that you have just reiterated a point made over and over earlier in this thread.
 
The other perspective is not everyone aspires to be a recording engineer.  Some folks just want to write a song.  You know, plug in their guitar and microphone, and hit record, or plug in a controller and play some virtual instruments, or make some beats.  It should not require a degree to make that much happen.  Mixing and mastering will take another level of expertise, but just making music shouldn't be all that difficult, assuming you know some basic music theory or can play an instrument.
 
I've been using DAWs since before Sonar even existed, and have read the manual.  Got that well covered.  But I think today's DAWs should be easier for a first timer to get up and running.  Or else it will just become an exclusive club for the experts.  That's no way to market a product, though, and it is a fast track for a developer to going out of business.
 
If you haven't noticed lately, there has been a big explosion in iPad apps for making music.  Guitar companies are struggling.  The DAW may become irrelevant in a few years, except for maybe to us old dinosaurs, if the products are not made more attractive to new users and the workflow they use to create with.

bdickens
Not to be a ass, but what would make DAWs simpler to use would be for people to RTFM.

Face it. This is complicated stuff. There is a certain amount of prerequisite knowledge required. You might as well ask what would make physics easier. There is a whole host of stuff you need to know first.

I actually had a rather easy time of learning SONAR because I RTFM for everything, every step of tbe way, instead of diving in headfirst and making a bu ch of unwarranted assumptions first.

Damn, you said just what I was thinking.
IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL TOOL AND PROFESSION, GO GET THE HOME STUDIO!!!! 

How do we make flying a space-shuttle easier. 
Stop the dumb down of recording to the lowest denominator.

Hey Craig,
 
Good question, and lots of great ideas here, but not to be negative - ain't going to happen!
 
One of the problems is software is developed by "different" companies and the a programmer's ??sometimes?? natural tendency, is to create a great opus that will live forever (and to be honest, that is what the project manager wants too).
 
In a previous life, I was a documentation engineer for a large printer company named after the founders (Bill & Dave). I had the great opportunity to develop the documentation for many of the printer products and it was a humbling experience to sit in a usability lab and watch a subject try to install the printer software and then use it. Most of the "better" engineers were humbled as they watched too (rather than yelling at the test subject). One solution that finally helped was to incorporate a standard format throughout the software and install process - it helped, but there was still a learning curve.
 
Maybe, as some alluded to here, we should first define what makes a DAW simple? So which one is the best (opps) I mean simplest? I hear all the fanboys starting to yell at those test subjects! Maybe we need a "common standard" for DAWs, but darn,  standardizing can make things dull and hard to sell (now I hear all of those Marketeers yelling at the test subjects) .
 
Maybe we should outlaw all but one DAW and everyone will learn only one! Maybe one needs to pass a driver test before you can "operate" a DAW? - ouch I think I just stepped on a hornets nest!
 
But back to your question... as I said, ain't going to happen. Who is at fault, probably everyone. Some companies don't want to spend money on that silly documentation stuff - using their product should just come naturally (plus we need to get the next revision out before next week). Oh yea, then there is the old cliche - you can lead most horses to water, but you can't make them RTFM 
 
Sorry for the rant, but just my $00.02,
 
h
 

It seems like the general consensus is the same and reminds me of a good comparison.....
 
Don't give out Happy meals with a Pilots license as the toy.