Flash

Reasons I got rid of the Macromedia Flash plugin...

- Flash bogs down my CPU horribly, especially compared to HTML.  I
  have better things to do with my processor.
- Flash tends to crash my browser (last I tried it).
- Since the Flash plugin is a proprietary program rather than open
  source, I can't even look for (and maybe fix) the bugs causing it to
  crash the browser.
- I manage to do everything else I need to do on my computer with open
  source software, so depending on Macromedia for a proprietary piece
  of my browser is particularly unpleasant.  (See www.opensource.org
  for more on this aspect.)
- Flash tends to take a while to download before starting, while HTML
  appears as soon as it's downloaded, and with HTML I can hit Stop to
  avoid downloading slow images while still getting the text content.
- Sometimes I like to use small fast simple browsers (such as the Lynx
  and Links text-only browsers, or a graphical one called Dillo) to
  find info quickly; they do HTML quite well, but don't do plugins.
- Sometimes I browse the web on computers for which Macromedia hasn't
  released a plugin -- I've even been known to browse the web on DOS
  machines.  They do have one for Linux/x86 (what I usually use), but
  none for Linux/PowerPC, Linux/sparc, Solaris/x86, or any form of BSD.
- Most flash I encounter on the web is annoying animated ads.
- I *hate* having animation going when I'm trying to read.  (When I
  encounter animated GIFs, my browser runs the animation once and stops,
  rather than repeating.  And I usually have it block most image-based
  ads anyway.)
- The plugin gives the author the power to disable my (the user's)
  ability to stop playing or stop looping, and even when the ability
  is there it doesn't always work very well.
- On a flash-based site I can't go directly to (or bookmark) the area
  I'm interested in.
- Flash bypasses the browser's Back and Forward buttons; even when
  there's an equivalent within the Flash, it's a jarring change of the
  user interface, and it's generally not as usable as the browser
  version.
- Flash bypasses the browser's indications of "where I am" and "where
  I'm going" (the location bar and status bar), leaving me feeling like
  I'm blind when I navigate the site.
- If I were actually blind, I couldn't use a flash-based site even if
  I wanted to.  (Yes, there are web browsers for the blind; and no,
  this item isn't a major personal reason for me, but it should be a
  consideration for anyone making a web site.)

That's all I can think of at the moment.... :-)