I sympathize with the point of the article, but if someone's seriously citing Flash, which had widespread success for a run of about 15 years before being overtaken by later developments (driven in part by a billionaire with an axe to grind), as a short-lived "dead end" that was best avoided, then how long do they think is a sensible amount of time to wait to see if something's worth spending time and effort? Nothing remains on top forever.