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A Mobile Future

For Flash's 10th Anniversary in 2006, Adobe asked Flash designers and developers

Where do you see Flash in 10 years?

(Blank et al.; Balkan et al.)

Everywhere?
Seriously, Flash is spreading from the Internet onto the desktop... and into phones, embedded systems, and appliances. There's just so much opportunity for this technology.
-Grant Skinner

Here in Japan, more and more people are connecting to the Internet using mobile phones. I forecast that in the near future mobile gadgets will become the main access point to the Internet rather than personal computers. When that happens, Flash will become an important tool for making mobile device interfaces more interactive and easier to navigate.
-Shin Matsumura

Flash will be built into every mobile phone, so you'll be able to do everything from remotely controlling the temperature of your refrigerator to playing multiplayer games with your friends, to having a nice video chat with your mom. With the speed at which the technology is progressing now, this could all feasibly become a reality in less than five years.
-Lisa Larson

I see Flash continuing to expand into device markets and being on literally every device that requires a user interface. I see native desktop applications being replaced by web-enabled versions that work as well on your desktop as they do on your mobile phone.
- Darron Schall

The users of Flash, whether designers or developers, clearly saw the future as going mobile. So what went wrong?