[thelist] Is flash always bad [was: google and other search engines]

[Kasimir K]

Hi Ed,

>>It is true that not everyone likes flash - but it is also true that 
>>there are many, who like it very much, and keep their plug ins up to 
>>date.
> 
> That's groovy, but when my browser shows me "Downloading - 1% complete" for
> more than two seconds, I'm out of there.  And so are an awful lot of dial-up
> consumers.

You seem to make an assumption, that flash sites are always heavy, and 
download for a long time. This is not true. Well authored flash files 
are light weight, and show content as soon as first bits have downloaded.

Badly authored pages may be heavy whether they are made with or without 
flash.

>>If these people are a sites target audience, it would 
>>be foolish not to use flash on that site.
>  
> I don't design a web site based upon whether or not I think the restaurant
> I'm designing it for has or doesn't have people who like Flash in their
> target audience.  I design it to appeal to people who might be attracted to
> that kind of dining experience.  Of course, if I ever do a site for a
> restaurant that decorates its walls with flatpanels displaying kewl
> animation, I might reconsider that.

Yes, you are speaking of only yourself now, which is very specific. More 
generic view will give better understanding. If you desing only dining 
restaurant web sites, then flash probably is not your cup of tea.

But for those who design a web site for dj-bar with target audince of 
25-30 year old trend setters, flash may be a very good choice. And when 
designing a site for a company whose main product are "kewl animations", 
flash probably is the only way to go ;-)

> But in the meantime, the only company I can think of that should be
> specifically targeting Flash aficionados is Macromedia.

I can think of many others too. It is clear that you don't personally 
like flash, but the truth is, that many media oriented sites - be it 
sound, animation or video - are best done with flash. Or do you consider 
only text as real, good content? And any sound or moving images as 
always bad content, which should be forbidden?


.k