"Point is, it's a more-or-less workable compromise between humans and computers, a workable way for us to describe tunes to them"
yes, but is dependent upon access to a computer, so to some extent is exclusive,and is dependent upon people having wealth to buy the technology.
yes i do look up tunes on the web and use standrd notation, each to their own, but after many years playing i reckon the best way of learning trad tunes is by ear, [if you can sing the tune you will know it]
playing by ear is inclusive for everyone