Wrong question to ask
I don't think creativity is a question of what you create but rather how. Creating a 4k executable that displays 3D graphics and elaborate sound, that's art. That's creativity. Using a premade 3D engine with bells and whistles to make an immersing game is creative as well, though, and can also be art.
So the argument of "we were more creative because we had to make our own tools" is not quite right, in my opinion. While earlier programmers were more or less forced to spend some of their creativity making day-to-day tools, they did not waste it. Neither do programmers today using those tools to make new things. The next generation of coders will use what those before them made. Why reinvent the wheel?
Now I did not experience the way programmers had to work "back in the days", I started coding in 1995 using GFA-BASIC for the Atari ST and later QBASIC for the PC. Still, I do think I was creative back then. With today's tools, I can form that creativity into code way easier, that's true.
I can do without GUI Builders, WYSIWYG designers and all that stuff but I really, really need syntax highlighting for any coding. That's something that really feels natural and needed today. Consindering project tools... Hm, at least a network between all team members as a bare minimum. The more tools you can get, the better.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
