> but it was replaced with.. nothing. and there is still a gap in that market for novice creators that all the webgl/html5/toolkit-of-the-week has yet to cater towards.
The reason Flash (and Director before it) was so popular is that it had a very low barrier to entry for creatives.
I still miss Director because of how easy it was to quickly create cross platform apps that could do just about anything.
You comment about 'expressions of emotion' reminded me to tell this story.
We have had wild Rainbow Lorikeets visiting us for over 20 years.
In our recently previous home we were up to 5 generations of birds, then we had to move.
There was one who was obviously out of her usual flock, and at the edge of desperation, who allowed me to hand feed her, and she was the first wild bird who decided to come inside and have food.
For over 10 years she came every day, met a mate after about 2 years, and taught him to come and sit beside me on the couch in the afternoon.
Then, over the next 8 years we had many families join us.
She grew to understand us, even appearing to understand us when we were happy, and when we were sad - that little Lorikeet really appeared to be empathic..
When she flew off to die (just last year) she told us in her own way, to look after her husband.
The next day, her hubbie turned up disconsolate..
He didn't want water..
He didn't want food..
He just sat in his spot on the top of a chair and cried..
This went on for a week, with us force-feeding him (well not really, but hand-feeding).
Over the next few weeks, his visits became less frequent - but at least he was eating.
Smart parrots like Lorikeets somehow appear to share so many similar 'feelings' as us.
We even had one who spoke English and had a great sense of humour who understood context.
The reason Flash (and Director before it) was so popular is that it had a very low barrier to entry for creatives.
I still miss Director because of how easy it was to quickly create cross platform apps that could do just about anything.