[thelist] Flash usage

[John Dowdell]

At 8:17 AM 7/31/1, Chris Evans wrote:
> I'm looking for some general Flash stats, and couldn't locate
> them on Macromedia's site.... What percentage of the general
> public are using flash? Of the Flash Users, which percentage
> of the users are using Flash 4.0?  and Flash 5.0?

Four times a year Media Metrix asks its regular online consumer focus
groups whether they can view various pages of certain content. Here's an
overview page of the ongoing results:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_census/

The "Technology Breakdown" and "Version Penetration" pages have the most
hard data. In the March audit, six months after release, the majority of
consumers tested could already see SWF5 files, which is in line with the
sustained three-million-plus completed downloads each day during that
period.

The results of the June audit should be pushed live very soon. From what I
understand early results of the realtime 3D rendering in the Shockwave 8.5
Player have also been very, very strong.


At 8:23 AM 7/31/1, Charlie Ulyatt wrote:
> I'm still waiting for any info on which choices people make when
> given the option to enter via flash or html....

Much might depend on why they're visiting the site, and what they're hoping
to take from it...?

(A message optimized for spoken-text will give you the widest viewership,
but richer presentations often provide more of an experience... different
tools for different tasks.)


At 8:47 AM 7/31/1, A. Erickson wrote:
> I think the best way to test is to build your own and watch the stats.

Ditto this... net norms are one thing, but it's always good to track how
your own messages are being perceived by your own audience.



At 8:58 AM 7/31/1, Chris Evans wrote:
> does anybody happen to know if, and what version of, Flash
> is installed with AOL?

It would vary greatly with how they get it... a CD version usually has many
things frozen onto it, and a minimal-download version has less but has
links to more current material.

This is why the Media Metrix audits measure viewability, rather than just
distribution. This still only applies to overall consumers online rather
than to your particular audience, however.

Surprising sidenote: Every two weeks Flash 5 adds an audience greater than
AOL's entire existing audience.... thirty million total vs three million
each day.
http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55252072


jd





John Dowdell, Macromedia Tech Support, San Francisco CA US
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