[thelist] re [the list] Flash Detection
Jamie Bakum
jabakum at hotmail.com
Tue May 8 11:07:43 CDT 2001
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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