There was a time (and in some people’s minds that time is still today) when people thought of software as a spreadsheet, or a word processor. Or in most cases, with normal human beings, software was something made by geeks that doesn’t really affect their lives in a day-to-day fashion. And even though those of us in the technology field know that software permeates and brings to life an increasingly larger percentage of the hardware we use every day, we have often treated software as a narrow silo rather than the unique and increasingly universal canvas it has become.

Historically technologists have viewed software as distinct from content. Software solves problems, it does stuff. Content is created by writers, musicians, filmmakers, et al. It is consumed. The narrative tells us that engineers create software to help those creative types create more content. They create software that authors, edits, displays, and shares that content, but the software itself is distinct from the content.

The dictionary is helpful in illustrating the out-of-date (and narrow) view:

soft·ware /ˈsɔftˌwɛər, [sawft-wair] –noun
General expression used to describe a collection of instructions enabling a computer to solve one or several tasks.

The first crack in this definition was the web itself. At first most people considered the web browser the software and web pages the content. But as web pages became more sophisticated in functionality, the distinction lost its usefulness. Compare Microsoft Excel vs. Google Spreadsheet:

Even though designers have gotten more involved by virtue of the fact that many people feel that web pages need to be “designed” unhelpful distinctions still exist. Let’s look at another example: what’s the difference between these experiences?

Or these:

Or these:

The movie isn’t interactive while the game is. Does that mean the movie isn’t software? The map and the video game are almost indistinguishable from each other. Newspapers are still printed on dead trees but they still have a user experience, and you can still interact with them.

Most software professionals are allergic to (or in the some of the best cases not steeped in) the techniques that are used to create compelling content. Content doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking about how to be useful. Content isn’t trying to solve a problem. Content is born to make you feel something — to elicit an emotional response. Content is trying to tell you a story. It is this purpose that needs to take its place alongside functionality and usefulness as core to every piece of software we create.

The line between software and content isn’t just blurry, it’s completely irrelevant. But its continued existence makes many technologists eschew the foundational design and storytelling techniques that are critical for making great user experiences.