Killing browser plugins was the right decision; besides the poor performance and responsive design, they were a security nightmare with hundreds of unpatched issues. It can't be understated just how much safer visiting a random webpage is these days versus a decade or two ago.

I loathe Apple, but their influence in killing plugins will go down as one of the most important steps forward in web development history.

The only sad part is how many AS3 and Silverlight games just kinda disappeared into the void.