Why Adobe Flash Player had to die

Finally, there is another offer period: although no updates for Adobe Flash Player are available from December 31, 2020 until January 12 until the Flash content is finally blocked. No one should notice this – no new Flash content has been posted on the Internet for years. In most popular browsers like Firefox and Chrome you can only use Flash indirectly anyway.

Ten years ago, Adobe Flash was one of the defining components of the Internet. How did that happen? Why did Flash expire today?

Rise: A revolution in the web

The first version of Flash was called Macromedia FuturesPlus and was created in the mid-1990s. At the time, Flash marked a revolution. Before that, the web was largely static, with static content, in other words: texts and occasional images. Flash made it possible to quickly and easily create animations and influence them with one click. Such interactive possibilities seem natural today, but then this discovery opened up unimaginable possibilities.

The simplicity of the Flash application is that even beginners can quickly create their own Flash works and upload them to the Internet. Flash developers quickly created full interactive websites, animated greeting cards and most importantly games. Sites like Miniglip and New Grounds made a name for themselves collecting points for all kinds of browser games, especially popular with children and young people.

Highlight: Flash Internet

Flash format peaked in 2005. At the time, Flash Player was available on more computers than any other web media format. The perfect time for a new name in the internet business: YouTube used its video player Flash format. Today’s the largest video site in the world quickly found a wide audience – thanks to the widespread availability of Flash. That year, Macromedia, the company behind Flash, was acquired by Adobe. By this time, Flash was firmly integrated into all common web browsers and appeared to be an integral part of network infrastructure.

But with the increasing spread, so did the criticism of Flash. Founder of Apple Criticized by Steve Jobs Closing the Flash operating system and describing Flash as a security risk. He’s not alone in this: Despite the standard security updates, Adobe Flash Player has become a favorite target for hackers who use Flash to bypass security measures in their browser and operating system.

Case: Burying iPhone Flash Player

One of the biggest critics of Steve Jobs on Flash is the fall of Flash design. Because the first iPhone appeared in 2007 – without Flash support. In the coming years, as more and more people use their smartphones on the Internet, the alternative to Flash – especially the HTML5 programming language – will become more and more important.

When Adobe officially announced the end of Flash in the summer of 2017, most on the Internet had already switched to non-Flash alternatives. So, for most people, January 12 is the day to change. For those who love early browser games, something is missing: a treasure trove of creative and innovative flash games that were on everyone’s lips twenty years ago.