For centuries, partituras were hand-copied by monks and scribes, making them rare and expensive. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg changed everything. By the 16th century, music printing became viable, allowing partituras to be mass-produced. This democratized music; it was no longer the sole property of the church or the aristocracy.
You carry 10,000 partituras in your backpack. You can annotate in layers and turn pages with a Bluetooth pedal. Paper: No battery dies. You can write aggressive notes with a pencil. The tactile feel of turning a page helps memory.
The turning point came with the invention of the musical staff. Guido of Arezzo, an Italian Benedictine monk, is widely credited with developing the four-line staff in the 11th century. This allowed musicians to visualize pitch relative to a fixed line.