Flash: the pros and cons
Flash is a great tool, and I don’t care what Steve Jobs thinks about it! Don’t get me wrong, I think Steve Jobs has been a genius in the true sense of the term in business and product development, but his dislike of flash does fall on his more maniacal side.
Note to Steve Jobs: Nothing personal. I am in fact writing this post on my Mac Book Pro, over my wireless Airport network, using i-work while listening to music on my i-phone…your my boy Steve! BTW, can we please get flash on the i-phone…pretty please!
What you can use Flash for:
Flash can be an extremely effective way of delivering dynamic content, engaging users, and providing for interactive content. It can be a useful tool for dressing up pages with interesting product photo delivery. It is the most popular video delivery medium online…period! You can use it to create games, interactive product or locations tours, portfolio delivery, presentations…the only limitation is imagination.
In the right hands and creative minds, the results can be stunning!
The cons:
Like anything else, there is a time and place for flash. Search engines still have a problem cataloguing flash content and can have problems following flash based navigation. While there have been improvements on the part of the search engines, and designers have catered to those changes in proper flash construction, the results are not sufficiently reliable at this point.
The iphone doesn’t support flash…hence the opening Steve Jobs comment. So if you intend on delivering key information in a flash piece, just keep in mind iphone users will not be able to see it. Granted this is a small overall market share in terms of the majority of website visitors, but it should be considered.
Some people disable their flash plugin as they view flash pieces as a nuisance. This is less a statement against flash and more a statement against it’s rampant overuse. Flash usage should never get in the way of content delivery, it should augment it.
The average website owner can’t edit it! Flash is a complex tool that takes a great deal of expertise to use to it’s full potential. The editable flash file is complex in it’s construction on various timelines, programing efforts and built in controls. The final flash file that you see on your website is a published version which can not be edited directly. Editing requires the original file, which many designers consider their property, and can not be edited without a copy of the Adobe Flash software and considerable expertise. You will most likely need your designer to update or change your flash pieces.
What about sound?
Whatever you like my friend! Keep in mind this will add to the overall files size, and most users keep their speakers turned off. For the most part users turn their speakers on intentionally to listen to music or watch video, otherwise they have them turned off. The extra effort it will take, the extra files size and the possible licensing fees may not really be worth it. But if you want it…go for it!
My personal recommendations:
Don’t use flash for navigation. If you do, be sure your designer includes an alternate navigation method within the pages for those without flash and the search engines.
Don’t use flash for key text content delivery, or at least not for content that can’t be found elsewhere on your website in a more traditional style as well.
Unless you’re Nike, don’t build a 100% flash website without having a mirror of it as an html version.
Avoid large bulky files sizes. Some designers will build an entire website as a single file and the result can be one large file. If a user is sitting there twiddling their thumbs for too long, they will move on before they’ve even seen your logo!
Final thoughts:
Don’t be afraid to use flash, embrace it! It is a fantastic tool when used appropriately it can really give a website a little extra flare. But do make sure your designer knows how to use it properly!
DPhoto
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There’s no contradiction here… Apple steals with subtility and adds a lot to it, the others use copy machines!
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Issac Maez
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
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Dorian Chananie
The basic syntax to change any property of a MovieClip in design a Flash website program is to type the clip’s instance name, followed by a period (.). Then you need to type the property name that you want to change and an equals sign (=), and then the new value. In any type of design a website in Flash activity, controlling Movie Clip Properties with ActionScript 3.0 plays a crucial role.
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M
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