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Adobe Flash is No More – The End of an Era

There was a time when a website featuring a nice animated flash header was top-of-the-line. As a matter of fact, we programmed in Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash) to give sites that extra professional feel. A Flash header still looks better than most of what you see on the web today. But Flash’s days were numbered.

Adobe purchased Macromedia in 2005 and along with it came all of its technology. This included the exciting world of Flash technology. Animated and interactive graphics on any website is what Flash brought to the table. So, what went wrong?

1. Adobe had a monopoly on Flash programming. Web programmers don’t like being constrained by only one source for a technology. We like open-source platforms. That was the way things were going and Adobe didn’t play ball. As a result developers got away from the technology and simply worked around it.
2. Security problems plagued Flash. The technology was susceptible to data injection, cross-scripting and other nefarious attacks.
3. Apple decided not to support Flash. In 2010 Apple made clear that it would not support Flash technology on its devices. This was really the nick to the jugular. Flash would be on a steady decline after this decision and eventually in 2017 Adobe announced it would cease Flash support after December of 2020.

What You Need to Know

If you have a flash program or player of any kind on your machine or device, it is a good idea to delete it now. As with any outdated plug-in, program or app, if it is not supported, it becomes the target of hackers and will eventually be a gateway into your machine.