What Flash is for

[farscapeone]

When it comes to Flash in web design people tend to use it even if they actually don't need it. Now that JavaScript Frameworks like jQuery offer a wide range of plugins that can do some basic transition and other visual effect, there's no need to use flash for that kind of simple tasks.
But don't get me wrong Flash is not entirely useless. YouTuba and other video sites are the proof that Flash can be useful. What about full flash sites than? Well just look and some examples of full flash web sites.

http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
http://agencynet.com/
http://eu.wrangler.com/bluebell/
http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/vehicles...ture?adv=94437 (fast connection needed)
http://www.kiluka.ch/

That's what Flash is for ;) So next time you are thinking of using flash for a simple transition image effect, think again.

[mrmunkey]

Wow very cool sites, I especially like the water one's load page and the wrangler one is really interesting

[yuoxyuo]

My Flash Website:

http://www.YUOxYUO.com

[farscapeone]

@yuoxyuo: Please don't use this thread to promote your work there is a forum section just for that and it's called Review My Site . This thread is not a showcase of flash sites. I posted a few just as an example to clarify my point.

[cattrain]

Flash is dying. You don't need flash even for video or more complex transitions anymore.

YouTube is slowly switching to HTML5. www.youtube.com/html5

For the more complex transitions, see www.chromeexperiments.com.

I understand that flash has its place, but before you use it, anytime you use it, think twice.

[farscapeone]

I would really like to see somebody make something like this (http://www.2advanced.com/) with HTML5 and any kind of JavaScript.

[lemon-tree]

Nice website, the only problem is that it uses ~20% CPU, which is a little excessive when it is only a few animations. Admittedly, that is running on the Mac version of Flash, which is known to be a lot less optimised than its Window's counterpart; this is also why I have Flash disabled by default with ClickToFlash.
You are also correct that it would be very difficult to create a HTML5 version of that site; what HTML5 really needs is a good design tool for creative design that doesn't require extensive coding knowledge, much like Adobe offers for Flash. Unfortunately, Adobe are the only people who can really create great design tools like we need. At some point they will probably realise the huge potential profit from such a tool and may consider offering both Flash and HTML5 tools. So, HTML5 still has a way to go before it can be considered a major rival in complex websites and applications, but for many smaller sites it offers sufficient functions to avoid having to resort to Flash. I certainly can't see HTML5 replacing Flash for online games any time soon, but for most other applications it is very capable.
That said, I can't see any big potential for Flash growth in the future: a lot of companies are moving from Flash and unless Adobe changes their position it is possible that - over time - it will become the minority product.
It's therefore no surprise that Apple is shunning flash, we have been waiting for years for an efficient version of flash and Adobe have failed to deliver anything remotely close. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Adobe and I enjoy using many of their other tools, but their approach to Flash has been wrong for a while now.

[yuoxyuo]

@leviathon. I wasn't trying to promote my website. You said "next time you are thinking of using flash for a simple transition image effect, think again." I disagreed, so I showed you an example of what you could do with flash versus what you can't do. That's all.

[bloodhound15]

i like flash you can make nice websites with flash
i cant make things with flash
you can let things move with flash i like that

wesley

[nzdesign]

Flash is perfect for graphic designers such as myself to have a stunning website that would take years to try to re produce in using other means. In a matter of 2 days of learning I managed to create www.nzdesign.co.nr . (not great but not terrible)

Yes there is the adobe monopoly on flash and yes it can be demanding on cpu however...

The current way one is forced to use code to make a decent website graphical website can be crazy. There is not a whole lot of intuitiveness to the code and trying to do graphical positioning can be a nigthmare... not to mention trying to make it compatible with all the stupid browsers.

With flash, what I see is what I get as well as what others get. In addition, it saves me many many many hours of trying to learn 3-5 different languages.

yaa for flash, I hope it survives.