Some Other Way
There has to be some other way. For a variety of reasons, we tend to get locked into a certain way of doing things. Sometimes, the reasons for this are perfectly valid at the time that the decision is made, but become less valid over time as new methods emerge.
This is particularly applicable when it comes to the current computing paradigms that we use every day without really thinking about it. Why do we use the applications that we do?
It just kind of happened...
There was some underlying technology that made this division into separate applications seem like the optimal solution.
The information ecosystem in place is so pervasive it is hard to imagine any other way of doing things.
However, if you start to think that information has a life cycle, you might start to think about organizing that information around that lifecycle.
This is complicated by the fact that information has multiple purposes.
On one hand, some information is more valuable is shared. But on the other hand, some information is more valuable if it is not shared.
This dichotomy is probably responsible for a lot of the mixed messaging around information systems.
Access and restricted access. For a lot of reasons, I don't see this changing anytime soon despite my idealistic dreams that information should be accessible to all.
However, there is a lot of room for innovation in the way that information created, assembled and distributed.
Documents, spreadsheets, graphics, audios and videos are all created with separate tools and formats. While these formats can combined, producing information information that is easy for the intended audience to consume and understand is still a challenge.
The problem is bigger than tools and formats that we use. It is really about conscious design of the information to be communicated and distributed.