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Two aspects that have not yet been mentioned: For a performer to sight-read music, the performer must know at a glance that e.g. a note on the top line is F, the top space is E, etc. Examining the position of each note relative to e.g. the center of the C clef would be way too slow. From a sight-reading standpoint, it's easier for most performers to deal ...

Alternative clefs have been proposed, but are not in common use. In the appendix of Rossing's The science of sound, there are clefs called the "super-treble" which is notated as two consecutive treble clefs, and the "supra-super-treble" written as three clefs, which indicate one and two octaves above standard treble clef, respectively. Similarly, there are ...

There is a (modern) convention for representing octave shifts "at the clef": an "8" above the clef is equivalent to "8va", an "8" below the clef is equivalent to "8vb", and applies throughout the piece.

I feel this question could be re-phrased quite successfully. However, I think the answer lies in the other clef sign - called the C clef, as used by, for example, viola players, which puts 'middle C' wherever the composer wishes - for example on the middle line of the five. This obviates the use of ledger lines, up or down, the pitch of the instrument is ...

It's not confusing as long as it's consistently done in a particular way for particular instruments whose players are used to the notation. For example, classical guitarists don't care that when they play the middle C, what actually comes out of the instrument is the C below middle C. It would be confusing if different pieces for the instrument, or ...