the old days of the java plug-in

A while back Gizmodo posted Rest in Hell, Java Plug-In.

It's really too bad it was such a security problem; back before html5 and canvas and powerful javascript, or even before Flash and Shockwave, it really let developers share interesting stuff, much more interesting that what a browser could do alone.

Flash and Shockwave always felt and looked more polished though, both in terms of plugin management and in terms of the end product. Almost all serious Java programs looked a bit "off".