Flash isn't doomed quite yet. Flash supplanted java as the primary form of interactivity on the web in the early years, and javascript + html has been making inroads but flash still has a significant advantage. Pure HTML/CSS/JS/Canvas/SVG designs are nearly as capable as flash, but there are still serious design defects in the system, major problems with client support and standardization, and a distinct lack of tooling.<p>Today it takes a not insignificant amount of effort just to make a simple text box with a border having 4 rounded corners that displays correctly for &#62;90% of a site's visitors using pure html/css techniques. Even if every internet user upgraded to a modern, standards compliant, CSS3 supporting browser tomorrow, there would still be a substantial hill to climb for designing good looking pure html/css sites, it would just be a slightly smaller hill.<p>Almost certainly this will change, standards will get better, browser marketshare will continue to skew toward newer browsers, tooling will improve, but all of these things will take time.<p>This is not a defense of flash, I don't think flash is good for the web even today, but until the very real problems of pure html/css design are put to rest (CSS4?) flash will still be seen as a go-to technology for a lot of things people want to do with the web.