The users didn't make the decision, the platforms did, and the decision was made after an alternative was available in Javascript.
If anyone killed Flash and Java, it was Apple by refusing to support either on the iPhone. All the users did was make popular a platform that didn't support them. If Apple had supported Flash and Java we probably would still have them.
Signed code that users had to install was tried before with ActiveX. It didn't work either because you can't rely on random developers to write secure code either. It's also how IE ended up with Flash. Click here to download Flash (signed by Macromedia).
So basically everything sucks because we're human and make mistakes. Maybe one day we'll have machines that reason more thoroughly than us and they can come up with a secure platform. Until then... Javascript and sandboxes.
> If anyone killed Flash and Java, it was Apple by refusing to support either on the iPhone.
Apple may have put the nail in the coffin, but long before that quite a few developers and users were avoiding Java programs when there were alternatives, and ClickToFlash was a popular browser plug-in. As they often do, Apple saw which way the wind was blowing.
If anyone killed Flash and Java, it was Apple by refusing to support either on the iPhone. All the users did was make popular a platform that didn't support them. If Apple had supported Flash and Java we probably would still have them.
Signed code that users had to install was tried before with ActiveX. It didn't work either because you can't rely on random developers to write secure code either. It's also how IE ended up with Flash. Click here to download Flash (signed by Macromedia).
So basically everything sucks because we're human and make mistakes. Maybe one day we'll have machines that reason more thoroughly than us and they can come up with a secure platform. Until then... Javascript and sandboxes.