The developer experience is just subpar. I believe this is a big factor why there's far less amateur content today. In terms of multimedia, I was able to do mor

The developer experience is just subpar. I believe this is a big factor why there's far less amateur content today. In terms of multimedia, I was able to do more with my 512MB Windows XP on rust-prone spinning disks and Flash 8 than my 32GB SSD-based Ubuntu LTS. The former was also programmed by a highschool student; the latter, same highschool student but with a CS degree and almost a decade of industry experience. Back then, I could rapidly prototype a small Flash project, maybe 10 scenes (is that the term then?). Today, yeah it's easy to get started but you have a project that's bit more than 3 scenes and you need to use webpack if you want any hope of keeping things organized. Distribution-wise, Flash packaging is just superior. You can even make it an .exe to share with your friends (security be damned; that's what I did then). To distribute your HTML5 project you basically need a webserver and send your link around and hope they open it in a compatible browser (if they use a Mac with Safari, you better hope you didn't use too much cutting edge APIs). I guess today you could also use Electron, equivalent to me exporting to exe, but that's another battery that's sold separately. Plus, animation is just loads better with a WYSIWYG editor like Flash. HTML5 is powerful but anything more than a simple motion tween and I have to pull up a pen and paper to calculate an object's movements. Though admittedly I've never looked into a visual editor for HTML5, that's if one even exists. (Of course, something has to be said about the price too. HTML5 is basically costless. Flash...let's just say I rode on my school's license back then.)