The academic and research community has long had a raw deal, in having to put up with a very unapproachable user interface. Other communities have demanded more. Even Unix software has been influenced, albeit with considerable delay, by the working environments of Windows and Macintosh machines.
Information systems tell a similar story.
An arcane working environment slows down the user. Computer-based communication has long been fundamental to the research and academic community. What is new, now, is information sharing. From information sharing to information delivery, and from information delivery to information production is a connected line of development.