#11 could've turned out differently I think, but Adobe dragged their feet too long. They dropped any licensing restrictions on third-party implementations in 2009 along with releasing full specs for the format. After that happened, even woefully underfunded/understaffed projects like GNU Gnash actually made pretty good progress on implementing it. If they had dropped the restrictions earlier and someone with more funding than Gnash (like Apple) had wanted to build a third-party implementation of the spec directly in the browser (rather than as a plugin), I think it would've been possible.
On the other hand, it's possible HTML5 is better thought out technically. I don't have a strong opinion on that. I do think the Adobe approach of "rich internet applications", which was once shunned by the HTML/hypertext community, is winning after all, just not in Adobe's format.
On the other hand, it's possible HTML5 is better thought out technically. I don't have a strong opinion on that. I do think the Adobe approach of "rich internet applications", which was once shunned by the HTML/hypertext community, is winning after all, just not in Adobe's format.