Flash Builder 4 and Flex 4 Bible- P2: When Macromedia first released Flash MX in 2002, the product was branded as the new
way to build Rich Internet Applications (known by the acronym RIA). The term was
invented at Macromedia to describe a new class of applications that would offer the
benefits of being connected to the Internet, including access to various types of Web-based services,
but would solve many of the nagging issues that had been inherent in browser-based applications
since the mid-1990s....