I think two considerations are problematic: the needs of the many overriding the needs of the few as well as ignoring what is better for the Web as a whole. They do mean that the status quo remains. Its a lot like being lumped with Internet Explorer for all those years despite Microsoft flouting Web standards just because Microsoft was big enough to do it. I see the same thing in Microsoft’s Office Open XML format and the struggle to have it adopted as a standard in the face of Open Document Format which is apparently better designed for longevity in a digital age.

Flash is popular and isn’t inherently bad as I understand it but HTML 5 adoption seems to be far better for the Web. It needs to be fully developed and adopted but HTML 5 could well be the Firefox of Web development, facing off against Flash, the Microsoft of the Web development.