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

[Diane Soini]

In my opinion, people tend not to use Flash for what it is best for.

I think it is ok to use it for animations that decorate a site, or for 
things like cartoons or games that you really can't do any other way. 
But not for the entire web site. Who really cares if flash is used in a 
small area of the page? Flash or image, it's all pretty much the same. 
But if the whole navigation or the whole web site is Flash? No, that's 
not good. If you don't like, it or can't use it, your screwed.

The other thing Flash really does well, that seems to be seriously 
overlooked, is to create custom user interfaces for complex web 
applications. You would hardly need to bookmark or spider deep into a 
web application. You can use Flash to make a tabbed interface, true 
combo box, or other user interface widgets that you can't get with 
straight html. And you can create an interface that can communicate 
with the server without refreshing the page. Flash also removes some of 
the browser compatibility issues of javascript, making complicated UI 
elements easier to do.

Nevertheless, with something like that you would probably have to 
create a non-flash alternative, or else you will lose some customers. 
Unless you are on an intranet and can dictate what people can use.

Diane

On Monday, May 10, 2004, at 02:26 PM, thelist-request at lists.evolt.org 
wrote:

> Re: Is flash always bad [was: google and other
>         search engines] (Allen Schaaf)
***
Don't be afraid to try something new. An amateur built the ark. 
Professionals built the Titanic. -unknown