Posted by the Bede on 10/10/49 11:36

IAWTP.
"Jose" <teacherjh@aol.nojunk.com> wrote in message
news:F%wvf.5528$nA2.4628@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net...
> Bald Pup asks..
> > Are there any cogent arguments against the use of Flash?
>
> 1: Flash is used primarily by advertisers to steal your attention away
> from the content the user came to see.
>
> 2: Flash cannot be turned off at the browser preferences level, like
> animations, graphics, sound, java, scripts, and other stuff can be.
> True, there are workarounds with additional software, but that's not the
> point.
>
> 3: Flash is free to the user - Macromedia makes its money from flash
> content creators, which are largely the advertisers mentioned above.
> Therefore it will probably always be the case that flash is not
> defeatable, since that's the way advertisers want it.
>
> 4: Flash content is large. Large content is discouraged on home pages
> and anywhere small content would suffice.
>
> 5: Flash doesn't resize gracefully. Flash movies and slide shows play
> at their own pace, not at the user's pace, unlike text which is read at
> the user's pace.
>
> 6: Flash is powerful; it can take over (for example) the user's
> microphone. Flash will be upgraded and there may be illicit uses for
> this ability. I am not all that confident that other such abilities
> will be introduced, should advertisers want it. Can you say "Sony"?
>
> 7: Flash is ubiquitous and getting more so. This is a very bad trend
> which should be impeded, mainly because of (1) and (2) above.
>
> 8: Most flash content I've seen is lame, and not worth the time,
> bandwidth, or effort. Ask yourself very critically whether your message
> or information is really =really= enhanced by being presented in this
> manner.
>
> There are other reasons, this is just a start.
>
> There are occasionally good reasons for a flash presentation, but it
> should NEVER NEVER be on the home page, and the user should be warned
> that it is a flash presentation before they click the link.
>
> Alan J. Flavell says...
> > If there was a way of getting a prompt and being able to say "no
> > thanks" to the browser when unsolicited flash content was offered, I
> > might be willing to re-enable it. I haven't found an option like that
> > yet.
>
> In Windows, For IE, rename the flash.ocx file everywher it appears
> (earlier versions used swflash.ocx). To re-enable it, re-rename one
> instance of the file back to its original name. For Netscape the file
> is less obvious - it's npswf32.dll (in the plugins folder).
>
> Jose
> (a.r.kibology, r.s.pro-wrestling removed NOT)
> --
> You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
> for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

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