[thelist] re [the list] Flash Detection

[Jamie Bakum]

I realize we're beating this to death, but I've been traveling -  3 
observations:

a. I'm fascinated by the double standard that seems to exist between Flash, 
and say, CSS/DHTML (thinking of A List Apart, specifically) -  People who 
think nothing of alienating a significant chunk of their 4.x viewership with 
strictly compliant code squawk at a plug-in that is easily available and 
renders pretty consistently across browsers and platforms? Hello? I realize 
this is an apples/oranges thing, but as a user, I'm far more put off by a 
message saying I need to upgrade to NN6 or IE 5 than a message saying I need 
a plug in -

b. aardvark wrote:

"i went looking to price out cars... i went into the requisite customization 
tool and added parts and features and even changed colors... took me a while 
to realize it was Flash and not a horse of JavaScript and cached images 
because it was so smooth... and it was only *part* of the page, so 
bookmarking it and otherwise using my back button and such was still 
enabled..."

I'm art-directing a site for an auto manufacturer - They've found that over 
30% of people who configure and save a car on the site purchase cars. Now, 
maybe these are just folks motivated enough to buy a car regardless of 
what's on the site, and it also doesn't mean it needs to be done in Flash, 
but if it is, and it's done well, that's Flash enhancing an event tied into 
the (omigosh) bottom line -

c.  The Lundstrom Architecture site, http://www.lundstromarch.com, done by 
Juxt Interactive - Love it or hate it, this site won a bunch of awards and 
created a buzz in the fairly insular world of architects - I read an 
interview with one of the principals saying that the PR surrounding the site 
led a bunch of firms to check out the site, look at the work Lundstrom was 
doing, and invite Lundstrom to partner on projects they never would have 
been exposed to.

Sure, it's the exception, not the rule, but isn't that a textbook example of 
what the web is supposed to do?

Look - 90% of Flash on the web may suck, and it may not be appropriate in 
many/most situations,  but to simply dismiss it out of hand (or rather, 
dismiss the botch job most people do trying to use it), rather than saying 
"Flash can do some really amazing things, how can I work around the 
limitations to create or enhance an exciting, compelling site?" seems pretty 
silly - especially among such a driven and creative group here on this list 
-

Regards,
Jamie
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