I've been in this business longer than most of you guys, and I'm telling you, everyone loves flash!

Except the ordinary surfer.

We implemented flash in our tour over a year ago and the results are good. When used correctly I see flash as a great tool to spice up any stale internet page. It can bring that extra edge you need to get the attention of any bored porn surfer.


Take care

ChrisL / http://www.thaichix.com/

but flash ads are way more engaging.. well they can be when they're done right..

Precisely.

these days, everyone is trying to set themserlves apart from others. people are tryong to push the envelope when it comes to designing.....my personal opinion is that more and more people will start utilizing flash in their designs,,,,,,i think in 2 years from now you will see a great many people utilizing flash technology.....i bet more then half of all sies will utilize flash in someway

the reason for this would be internet speed.....internet speeds are only getting faster, and in a couple years, the number of broadband users will prolly be bigger then the 56kers (in the u.s. at least).

html is for the most part static, and i believe most users prefer interactivity and motion to static....just like most people would prefer to watch a movie of a naked girl, rather then picture of her. I dont know how this would relate in the adult world, but in main stream, i definetly think that flash will become more popular then HTML in 2 years

only way that i see flash failing is if a superior technology comes out sometimes in the next year or two.

done properly the average surfer doesn't even notice..

you're talking about flash as though it only has one function... done correctly it's no more annoying than animated gifs.. and less so then javascript..

I dont know how this would relate in the adult world, but in main stream, i definetly think that flash will become more popular then HTML in 2 years

heheheh flashers have been saying that since '97 '98 and the "flashpad" board days.. lol.. i don't think it will happen..

only way that i see flash failing is if a superior technology comes out sometimes in the next year or two. [/QUOTE]

like SVG? :)

And, about how often do you see something as easy and cheap as even HTML done "properly"?

I, for one, almost instantly hit the BACK button when I find a flash page, unless there is a link allowing me to bypass it.

I think most surfers view it as Musac: someone else's taste shoved down your throat, like it or not. At least static HTML doesn't waste your time.

You are aware, for example, that the average surfer will hit the back button or start looking through his bookmarks if a page doesn't load in about 13 seconds?

If Flash is going to work, for one thing, we need to get past these "Flash Loading" screens, because it's just a notice to the surfer that "we are going to waste an unspecified period of your time."

To those who are promoting the idea that surfers want video more than stills, their druthers might be fairly irrelevant to you as a business person. To the business person, the question is one of income from signups and rebills vs. bandwidth and content costs, isn't it? The point being that even if the surfer would rather watch a movie, giving him what he wants is vastly more expensive with video (and here I'm talking about digital video, not Flash graphics) than with a site built primarily on stills.

I, for one, almost instantly hit the BACK button when I find a flash page, unless there is a link allowing me to bypass it.

i do a lot too.. depending on the purpose of the site...i've also been conditioned by the amount of bad full flash sites..... thats why i go for integrated flash/html a lot more.

I think most surfers view it as Musac: someone else's taste shoved down your throat, like it or not. At least static HTML doesn't waste your time.

depends.. ANY site HTML, VRML, etc is just someone else's tastes shoved down your throat.. what do you think that pepsi sign is.. that bank ad.. that news website... you seem to be refering to the essentially useless flash wank sites..

You are aware, for example, that the average surfer will hit the back button or start looking through his bookmarks if a page doesn't load in about 13 seconds?

more like 10... yes i am VERY aware of user interaction/perception.... not many other flash designers have read jacob nielson :)

If Flash is going to work, for one thing, we need to get past these "Flash Loading" screens, because it's just a notice to the surfer that "we are going to waste an unspecified period of your time."

i totally agree.. this is often a case of the author not knowing how to deliver the information smoothly, and going nuts on a all out design without even thinking of optimisation..

the problem is that flashers have to repair the damage that has been done to surfers in the days of 800kb swfs and preloaders for intro movies.. you should be able to get a flash page to operate as fast as a html page.. unless you have a very high end reason for using flash (in which case you could just use it as an integrated console in html)
im almost to the point where i think NOT putting a "flash loading" preloader will make the user think it is going to load faster.. users are conditioned to waiting 5-10 seconds for a html page to load (longer for image rich ones) but if you had a preloader on a flash site that lasted 10 seconds you'd still think the html loaded faster..
one of the great things about flash is that i can load ANY one of the content behind the navs anytime i want regardless of when the user is going to click on it.. so if they eventually do it's already at least partially loaded for them.. a definate head start over HTML.. of course that only applies for the content of the site... hell i can even track the user's mouse and start loading the content before they even get to the button..

i can find out how fast your connection is and dynamically deliver an appropriate level of detail.. i can find out how fast your CPU is and scale down the heavy effects.. i can break up the movie and play slight of hand so it seems like it's loading faster than it is and deliver it to 97% of the audience, automatically providing a flat site for the other 3%..

it's the author not the technology..
it's also the purpose of the content and the target market that states how much "WOW" you can get away with by default..

Our site is done completely in flash.. if you dont have flash.. then you probably cant afford our design work anyway!

:321GFY