Let me tell you about a great guy named Guido. He invented a language that greatly lowered the barrier for new students to enter into his art. It was very difficult to learn a script in the old languages either because the syntax was so arcane or because you really needed someone to fill in missing details every time. Guido's language was intuitive and readable, and it made it possible to reproduce results with minimal training. And now, around a millennium later, it's hard to imagine music without the ubiquitous staff that Guido d'Arezzo first invented.
