Dear Flash,

I never thought this day would come. For many years I have been one of your most ardent supporters and unabashed suitors. Maybe it betrays my age a little, but we have walked a long road together.

At first, when I met you, we didn’t get along. I was conservative and careful. You were wild, reckless and crashed a lot. Even those Java reflections were better.

Then something changed. Was it better software for developers? Did you add some much-needed features? Or did you just slowly grow up in front of our eyes? It escapes me. I could look it up, but why drag up the past at such a painful moment.

See, Flash, I’m breaking up with you. We’ve just come to this point where I don’t think we can walk a road together anymore. I partly blame your parents at Adobe. They just don’t seem to take care of you as they used to.

That saddens me, because we had some great times and the future looked bright. I still remember those halcyon days and nights, when you’d surprise me with a game or animation. Sometimes you caught my eye, tucked seductively into a Web page’s design. It wasn’t often — most designers had no clue what to really do with you — but when you shined, nothing was brighter.

There were the upstarts. Java once thought it might become likable. Silverlight had a go at it, but never made many friends. And who knows when last we heard from your cousin, Shockwave. You always had more grace and style, Flash.

Even Apple couldn’t just snub you without consequence. When you weren’t invited to its browser, people took notice. Some questioned your validity, but many stood up for you. Everything was on a high and we all cheered the future.

But there may be someone else. I might as well admit this now, I’m not just leaving you. I found HTML5. Look, it’s not the serious thing we had. HTML5 is still finding its feet. But we chat on occasion and it has made my YouTube visits so much better. Also, nobody is making annoying ads out of HTML5 — at least not yet.

But you, Flash? I no longer understand you. The shock of having Firefox sit me down and reveal your flaws. Yes, in a relationship we must accept each other’s shortcomings. But, dammit, two zero-day bugs that took Adobe how long to patch? I mean, are you insane?! Do you have any idea how many idiots out there are throwing around malware like confetti? And to learn of this, from all places, in the trove of data stolen from a covert surveillance company?!

Really, Flash, I thought better of you…

But I’m being unfair. It’s not really you, but Adobe. So even though you’ve straightened up your act and Firefox is talking to you again, I’m not sure I can. I might on the odd occasion call you up to load a video on a news site, but I don’t think we can hang out as often anymore. I just can’t trust you enough for that.

I’m sorry.

James