It could be argued that the decline of guitar sales from both Fender and Gibson are partially the result of a younger generation who have found it to be less expensive than a new guitar to make guitar music with loops or vsti's using daw software. 
From that vantage point, the software is already easy enough to use. Easier in fact, than learning to play an instrument. You can get the effect of a band without a band or the need to learn to play. They take the path of least resistance. The younger generations are practically raised with a pacifier and a computer attached to them in one way or another. My 7 year old grand daughter knows her way around a smart phone already. Probably better than some adults.
If quantum computing ever makes it into the mainstream we will have the most real AI ever. They have already built the hardware for it.1's can be 0's and 0's can be 1's making a quad architecture possible or 4 possible outcomes to every byte.
 
I would still like to see voice control. Works well with Alexa but she uses IFTTT and some of that can be tough to put into Sonar as it is. Some time in the near future there will be an easier way. 

Jeff Evans
Would this help:
 

 
Its free as well. This app allows you to take shot from your phone and insert the image into the session. On tracks I believe. Their website implies the phone is the only method of getting the image in. However I have emailed them and asked them if the Windows screenshot can be used instead. e.g. of an open plugin window. I hope so and if it can they have certainly not made that very clear.
 
Taking pictures of your monitor might not be that great. It would be good in the case say taking a shot of a drum micing setup or guitar cab mic position etc..

This is really good, I'm super happy with this solution, thanks again Jeff.

Cakewalk USED to have a product that was pretty much the epitome of "easy to use" GUI that let you focus on music creation.  The side bar of the signal flow, looping, etc.  Mixing not so much, but that's not the point in creating it.  
 
It was called Project5.   RIP.
 
(no "matrix view" is not even close)

For me, it's integration. (The reason I love Sonar) ... 

Here's my take for what it's worth...
 
I've taught many people how to record. From cassette recorders, hard drive, computer, tape.....here's what I've come up with.
 
Today, users are bombarded with options that have options that have options that have options. They are all over the screen and can scare the heck out of you before you do a thing. This needs to change. I have a guitar student right now who is now having me teach him recording with Sonar. His first question to me was "how will I ever learn all this? Just look at all the stuff that pops out on my screen!"
 
He's right...and he's only using Sonar Professional. Ever right click on something in Reaper? Man, so many options! We have to make it sort of like the old Sonar. Remember when you could choose what you wanted to see on on the screen? We need to take on the "it's a little tape machine with huge features we'll get to later" approach.
 
No one needs to be bombarded with options all over. It's great we have them for the power user, but I like the whole question and answer thing someone mentioned above.
 
We have everything "smart" these days. How about a DAW that asks you questions and tailors what you see to your needs? One that will blow your face off with options as you go through the ranks to see all that stuff, or...if you are already a power user, you disable that feature and go all out. We take for granted how much we really know as well as what we do to make our systems work.
 
Just look at ASIO settings alone. I can't tell you how many times I've had to tell people "a good rule of thumb is to find a happy medium buffer that works for recording to avoid latency, and use something bigger for mixing so you have the room to do what you need to do." They usually say "well, why can't I just leave it alone? Why do I have to touch it?"
 
Granted, some of you have systems where you don't have to mess with your ASIO buffers. Not everyone has that luxury. So they have to change from time to time depending on the interface and pc etc.
 
At any rate, I think the mouse-over help that Sonar implemented was quite useful. I also like one-click link tutorials inside help files that load up projects or templates so you can see things step at a time. Watching videos is good...but nothing beats going through the motions. Celemony has some really good how to videos.
 
Anyway, that's just my take. Anyone deciding to create a "Smart DAW", please bring me along for turning you onto the idea. LOL! :)
 
-Danny

I subscribed to both VTC.com and Safari Books online and they both have excellent Sonar Classes, bear in mind that VTC sells a unlimited license that covers many of the sequencers in earlier versions, but it gives me an idea of what to look for and explains things that I would never find on my own.  Go look for a coupon for VTC so you can get it for less money and it covers any kind of software you can imagine not just Sonar.   But they are for previous versions up to Sonar X1  But I actually learned more from the earlier courses than that one.  They also include Photoshop Reason, Cubase and several others Protools   These courses are very deep.  Safari also look for a discount coupon carries Sonar Books and the VTC Programming Courses but for example it only has the VTC Sonar x1 course but it has Scott's books and about 4or 5 Cakewalk books. Both of these are great deals if you get the discount for 1/2 price on Safari Books online.  It covers everything technological.  Well worth the 1/2 price. 

bapu
First you have to pass a written test showing that you know the terminology of the DAW.

 
Brilliant Bapu. Now remind me not to hire you when we're trying to improve sales :-)

1) Every other program I use it's left click and drag to highlight an area.  Every other program I choose what action I want to perform on the highlighted area by either moving the mouse cursor to the top to select the next action from the edit menu or right click on the highlight to open a sub menu.  That's a pretty basic action but the only audio program I've found that performs like that is Audacity!  Cut, copy, paste, delete, move all of these words are the most basic tasks you'll perform using a DAW and all approach performing those tasks differently.  Why?  That's a constant frustration.  It also means if I want to perform a simple task I'll likely open Audacity and not a full featured DAW.  Guess what, the more I use Audacity the more comfortable I feel with it and less comfortable I feel with CbB.  I have to relearn how to perform basic tasks in CbB every time I use it and that takes time I don't have and raises my frustration level for something I want to have fun using.  I will say this, I'm just not picking on CbB.  The same holds true for other DAWs I've tried.
 
2) Signal chains.  In the seventies I bought a Teac A-3340 reel to reel tape deck.  I got pretty good at recording but I couldn't achieve my goals because I had no outboard gear and had no idea of what gear I needed.  I started thinking the Peggy Lee refrain, "Is that all there is?"  Luckily my wife gave me a hardware DAW as a present.  The hardware DAW includes nine software algorithms that emulate various insert signal chains for recording acoustic and electric instruments or vocals.  It also has a send/receive parallel buss to add reverb and delay.  Now I know what I was missing!  Why can't software DAWs have algorithms that emulate a variety of basic signal chains that beginners can use and learn from?

jimfogle
Why can't software DAWs have algorithms that emulate a variety of basic signal chains that beginners can use and learn from?

Would this be different from the TONS of FX Chains that Cakewalk by BandLab ships with (admittedly many of them now refer to plug-ins that are not currently included, but I trust that the team will iron that out)?
 
Have you not noticed them down there at the very bottom of the list in the FX Browser?
 
(And BTW, I hear ya about Audacity's ease of use and conformity to Windows UI standards. I once auditioned REAPER after having spent time doing all my work in Audacity and....I'll just say that REAPER is known for its idiosyncratic workflow and leave out the other parts of how that went)

What a topic.
 
I was born in 90s and started making music in 2005-2006. As a child I've learned some music theory (no special classes).
I've got a concept to write music with sheets, notion, etc. Software as a Guitar Pro was used as a sketchbook where I was making all the music. It was hard to understand any midi gear and connections. I wanted only to play instruments and then record em all. I've tried Cubase, Sonar in 2005-2006. And it was a nightmare without midi keyboard and just music theory in head. 
Nowadays we have guides for web-sites and etc. These guides can and should help other guys that are in music.
Modern DAW should have concept to give user less time to make something. Don't need to look for sub-menus, it should be right here and in your hands.
Also we have mobile devices which are getting more and more music software. It can be integrated.