the thing that the insufferable web nerds never considered, because they are insufferable web nerds:
modern browsers with incredibly performant js and canvases and webgl and complex CSS and animations, are capable of so much, probably even more than the old flash runtime if we're being real
BUT NOBODY MADE TOOLS FOR IT
the best thing about flash wasnt the capabilities of the runtime, although yes, browsers hadn't quite got there yet. it was that anyone, with very little prior experience, could sit down at it and coax something out of it
yeah if you were totally inexperienced, it would be kinda not good, sure, that's just how learning works. but it gave you a method to sit down and create something in a more visual, artistic workflow, without having to hit 20 long winded reference manuals and learn code
and yeah, you'd probably get to a point where you did maybe need some of that stuff, but it had a low barrier to entry that let people just noodle at it and feel out how to create with the tools
that is what we never replicated
