[thelist] flash detection

Mike Hardaker mike at angloinfo.com
Mon May 7 19:02:13 CDT 2001


> Mike H raised the interesting point about
> "registered users" having its own frailties. All of these measures pale in
> comparison to actual viewership audits, which zero-out the
> multiple-install
> and related problems. MediaMetrix directly measures viewership among
> representative consumer samples.)
>
> Summary: The reasons so many more consumers can instantly view SWF than
> video include both far wider initial distribution, as well as an
> overwhelming difference in daily downloads.

This is all fair - there are lots of Web users that *can* view Flash - and I
think you did a great job of shooting down the nay-sayers (I can still see
the plume of smoke).

I still feel that a far more interesting question (technically unanswerable,
I know) is how many *want to*.

To take an example that's not too daft - many (more?) people can hear an
HTML page's MIDI background sound. But how many actually like it interfering
with the a) CD Audio or b)silence they are listening to at the time it
loads.

Or if you'd like something less technically unpleasant, many (most?) browser
*can* run a 900KB Java applet - but how many users will wait for it to
download?

For me, the crux of the matter is not the *potential* to use Flash (which,
as I have said, I think is a lovely piece of technology when used right) but
the results of the regular *abuse* of it - something that could possibly
kill it in the consumer market.

-------------------
Mike Hardaker
Founder & Publisher
AngloINFO
www.angloinfo.com (Web)
wap.angloinfo.com (WAP)






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