I have no flash plugin installed on any of the computers in my control. Every now and then people ask or even demand me to explain this strange stance. So here it is.
The reasons are practical and fundamental. Practical reason is: I surf the web mainly for information. Flash is mainly for ads and games. Fundamental reasons have to do with the flash being non-free, proprietary and closed source. Well, I wouldn't mind sites using flash as long as the information I want is available in an accessible form as well. However, today more and more sites are in flash *only*.
So you say it's my own choice not to install the flash plugin. I wish it was, however I have quite a few devices that can surf the web and show html pages but cannot show flash(no plugin available), probably never will. I'm at the Adobe's mercy for what devices they decide to provide the plugin. Mobile phones, PDAs, tablets, consoles anyone? I don't think you can have it for your 64-bit windows either. Well, you don't care, flash Works For You.
So you say you don't care it being open standard and can't stand these frothing-at-mouth zealots demanding everything to be open and free and stuff. Okay fine. However let me ask you: do you think the internet is a great thing? How about web, p2p, google? Then let me tell you, none of these would have been possible without open, agreed-upon standards. Or do you honestly believe that if tcp/ip, http, html, css were all proprietary and controlled by companies they would be so co-operative that the internet would be possible? Think about the variety of hardware and software the internet consists of. There are dozens of kinds of hardware, dozen of operating systems, several types of data transfer technologies, everything works together. There are several web servers, web browsers on different types of platforms they mostly work together. The information on web pages is mostly in open formats, that's the thing what makes it possible for google and other search engines to go through it, index it and provide you a searching service. Well, you wouldn't care if teh interweb required vista and IE7 to work, you got it, it Works For You.
However you forget one thing. The web is all about content. Most of the content, including this page, was not made by you. If every content provider would switch to their own proprietary format, the web would be no more. Everyone would lose. Flash is one of these proprietary formats. Like a parasite, it piggybacks on the open standards which made the internet possible but is not one itself. It breaks at least one of the fundamentals the web is built onto, hyperlinking. Also it breaks the search engines, what do you do with buttloads of information on the web without search engines? Okay so you don't care, the flash still Works For You.
Or.. does it? Can you google for the content on the flash-only sites? Does your browsers 'find in page' work on flash sites? Can you link to a specific section on a flash site? Can you change the font-type or size on the flash page? Can you tell it not to force-feed stupid sounds on your favorite music? Can you tell the distracting animations to stop? Can you fast-forward the intro animations? Can you read the text you know is there with your mobile phone's WAP browser? Open a link in a tab? Take advantage of you shiny new 64-bit processor and still use flash? Wish you could, but even you are at the Adobe's mercy.