How Adobe Flash lost its way [Video]

Despite early successes on the Web, the latter years of Flash have been a tale of missed opportunities

Credit: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock

Adobe has long dreamed of establishing Flash as a premier cross-device rich application development platform, but as the competition mounts, those hopes appear to be dwindling. This could be Adobe’s last chance.

As its annual Max developer conference approaches, Adobe has announced details of the forthcoming Flash Player 11, along with AIR 3, the latest iteration of the Adobe Integrated Runtime desktop app based on Flash technology. Among the top features of the new versions is hardware-based 2D and 3D graphics acceleration, which Adobe promises will make Flash content run “1,000 times faster.”

In addition, Adobe has hinted that the Max keynotes will unveil “a new company initiative that reimagines content authoring” and transform “the creative process across mobile devices, personal computers, and the cloud.”

Even if Adobe delivers on its grand pronouncements, all this may prove too …