Flash and Adobe PDF are to some extent competing products.

Flash is used by some sites, even for "static" media content, apparently because it makes it more difficult for people to save the content. Adobe PDF is intended specifically (unless disabled by the writer/producer) to make it as easy as possible for content to be saved by viewers.

Anyone having problems with either of them (which pretty much means anyone using a computer on the internet) should be aware of the new competitor(?): Microsoft Silverlight.

As soon as I've figured out anything that Silverlight is good for, perhaps I'll comment. For now it's just another mammoth on the hill ready to charge into our little camp.

John