My Thoughts On Flash.
By Rik Tairea

I run a website award program that gives out awards to websites that look good and function well. This means I have to spend a bit of time looking at the numerous applications that I receive and, a good amount of these sites contain Flash presentations.

Before we go on I have to say that I'm not a Flash developer or expert, I am familiar with the software, have used it on only a couple of websites for a small amount of time and, I don't favor or dislike it.

I said all that because this article is just listing my opinions on Flash. It wasn't written with the intent to make me look like some kind of "Flash Guru" because I'm far from it, I don't play one on TV either.

Back to the show.

For the last couple of years the only sites I have been creating have been sales sites. This means that I've had no use for incorporating Flash (or any other special plug-in for that matter).

When building a website dedicated only to selling products, I believe that using Flash instead of standard HTML and images would have a negative effect on my search engine optimization techniques. It would also increase the page loading time and there are still people out there who still don't have the browser plug-in to display Flash elements (I think the total number is 6).

Of course in the eye's of some, most of that would be debatable, but it's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Another reason I don't use Flash or prefer Flash websites is because I'm not an "interactive" person and in my opinion, that's who Flash is for. When I visit a website it's either for information or to make a purchase, I'm not there to play games, hear sound effects when I navigate or see dazzling pretty colors, I'm there for the info.

Now that's just me (and a few others like me). I'm a simple kind of guy who prefers simple things and this is why prefer text only eZines compared to HTML ones, even if HTML provides more options for the subscriber and publisher.

But I still see why Flash can be so useful. Just because I don't need interactivity to make me stay and return to a website, others do.

For example, in this day of age you would be hard pressed to find a popular kid's television and/or cartoon show without a website, you would also have some difficulty finding the same website without some Flash elements.

Why? Because the majority of children who watch these shows prefer that whole interactive thing. Obviously, Flash gives designers a slew of options compared to the static HTML method and, if it appeals to the audience then you would be a fool not to implement this technology.

As a web designer (or webmaster) Flash gives you options.

For about four years I've been hearing that Flash is the future, the very weird thing is that I'm still hearing the same sentence. I've noticed that quite a lot of websites do utilize this technology (I'm sure you have too) but not every webpage on the Internet has a Flash piece on it.

My thought is that some were thinking that everyone building a page would incorporate something Flash related, no matter how small or insignificant. This could still come true thanks to the fact that there are some real affordable and easy to use Flash solutions available now.

Even I'd consider creating a Flash site if the need came up.

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