And yet... when Flash provided a simple, easy, way for people to get into coding using a GUI, there was an explosion of creativity.
Flash was terrible for all sorts of other reasons. But it did demonstrate that there is a class of incredibly creative people out there who can create amazing things, but not on the command line, and not using the tools currently available.
I'm serious. I don't think there can be another "explosion of creativity" of the (relative) magnitude of Flash, because people now express themselves by recording videos. It's both easier and more social than making interactive software, even with Flash.
That doesn't make any sense. You don't inspire creativity-explosions by shutting down existing platforms, you do it by providing new affordances, which is what Flash did. And videos aren't even interactive! There's not even any comparison here.
Mass creativity follows the path of least resistance. Existence of YouTube - as a much easier and more social venue for self-expression - precludes mass popularity of Flash vids/games. To beat YouTube, a new affordance must be both easier and more socially appealing (because mass creativity tends to be done mostly to show off in front of friends/colleagues or romantic interests).
I'd love to see someone create a Flash-like IDE for Javascript. ActionScript 3 was originally based off of ECMAscript if I remember correctly, so they're quite similar. What's missing from the web scene is probably mostly an entity component system.
Have you seen Processing or P5.js? I can’t really compare them to what Flash was like, but they’re both extremely accessible ways to make cool artwork, animations, etc. and a great way to learn coding by “making real things.” There’s also a big community and some very nice educational videos.
Have you looked at the indie game market? Unity rules all right now (yes I know there are other engines but Unity is clearly the big dog). 1000's and 1000's of games developed or being developed. Steam has endless lists of them. A lot of the Flash games moved to Unity but the bar was raised as developers pushed to stand out. So now you Flash game isn't enough to stand out. You need something really special. A perfect example is Team Meat, they made Super Meat Boy and Super Meat Boy Forever. Half of that team started making Flash games and now it's indie games. That pattern has repeated itself over and over. The difference is the delivery platform, it's either mobile games or indie games or both often.
Flash was terrible for all sorts of other reasons. But it did demonstrate that there is a class of incredibly creative people out there who can create amazing things, but not on the command line, and not using the tools currently available.
How do we get them doing that again?