Anyway, I agree with your assessment of Flash. It’s a great tool within specific niche, but many people think it’s is the one and only solution for all Web problems. I hope that, as browsers evolve, we become less dependent of Flash. I’ve developed cross-platform applications in the past months using native XML support in the browsers, and I’m satified with the results.

I think blogs have helped a lot in that process. Developments are happening in the open (Ian Hickson and others come to mind), and that has benefited us all. I also hope it goes on.

I admit to having been one of those who jumped on the Flash bandwagon early on. Of coarse at that time it seemed to be a good alternative to cross-browser compatibility issues. Not only that but in the beginning it paid well and was kind of cool. Of coarse it to had its own issues. Within the last couple of years though Flash for me has become more of a novelty for creating cards or entertaining friends and colleges. Besides updating a full-blown Flash website can become a major issue (frustrating headache). Especially if it’s something you didn’t design initially.

If the latest major browsers releases are any indication of what we can expect in future releases maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little brighter (my fingers are crossed). For those of us who are serious about website design and development and know its history it’s a welcomed relieve that the major browser developers are beginning to support more of the W3C recommendations for the XML family tree, CSS stylesheets, and maybe even eventually EMCASript and a native SVG Model.

Of coarse we can’t forget the continued efforts of the WaSP who has been a major player in pushing for web standardization for sometime now. Maybe eventually we’ll all be able to focus more the business of (easy access for all) good website design instead of trying to work out complex proprietary compatibility issues. Would that be a kick

I don’t like Flash either, and I don’t care if Macromedia is forced to abandon it. However, I don’t know how much Flash-related products account for its revenue, and I wouldn’t like to see it forced to abandon other good products because it needs that money.

I hope Mozilla Foundation is not harmed as well.

Let’s not forget SVG. This decision could turn out to be the catalyst that drives browser-makers to get native-SVG support up and running.

Personally, I’m not a big fan on plugins, and I have to admit that deep down this entire episode has got me a little bit giddy with glee… if it kills Flash then I’m happy… if it ends up indirectly killing Mozilla… that would obviously suck.