There are some of the new graphene (looks like a little rubbery pad) pads that do to within a degree of the best TIMs, and, remove all risk of using too much, too little, accidentally putting it in socket, etc..
Linustech had a video on those and I guess they may be the wave of the future.
Nonetheless Stephen Burke at Gamers' Nexus blows a hole in the too much too little debates. He tests gobs that ooze out the side and thin little films and different styles of application in between and
they come out to within tenths of a degree of each other. (that's the same link I posted above) Bottom line: there's no wrong way to apply thermal paste (well don't gum up the mobo with the stuff).
Some decades ago the cake mix companies came out with a just add water cake mix, dump it in a bowl, add water, stir, and bake. They weren't particularly successful at first because housewives felt they that they weren't cooking. Put out a mix where you add two eggs and milk and people felt thy were really cooking.
I wonder if the transition away from thermal paste will face a similar obstacle. I find the paste application process so easy that I'm not sure I see the need. They do however have major advantages in that you can swap out the heatsink/fan and put in another one without the need to clean the cpu surface. And the pad can be reused. We'll see how it goes.