Introduced back in 1996 as a tool for adding vector-based
animation and simple interactivity to web pages, Macromedia
Flash content began appearing online as a fresh and dynamic
alternative to the static, predominantly text-based html content
of the day. During this time, the only alternative for
presenting any form of motion-graphic content online was through
crude animated .GIF images. Gradually over the past decade,
Flash grew in popularity, driven largely by the ubiquitousness
of the Flash player across Web browsers, operating systems, and
mobile devices. Part of this success can arguably be be
attributed to the wonderfully small published .SWF (ShockWave
Flash or Small Web Format) file sizes that could be achieved
back when most Internet users were viewing Web sites at a
connection speed of 56 kbps via dialup. The Flash Player plugin
itself was unobtrusively small and easy to install which
certainly fostered adoption rates; Flash Player 4 (circa 1999)
plug-in was for instance, a mere 264 kb download. Mor