This is missing the main reason we used Flash: it was basically the Java of the web. Or maybe the jQuery of the web. Since no browser were standards compliant (

This is missing the main reason we used Flash: it was basically the Java of the web. Or maybe the jQuery of the web. Since no browser were standards compliant (or rather every browser adhered to their own version of a standard) writing web pages that were cross browser compatible was a pain (hence all the Best Viewed in Netscape Navigator or IE messages). Flash, on the other hand, took care of the cross-platform mess. You could use Flash and be reasonably sure it would look and work the same on every browser and OS that had a Flash player.