64-bit Firefox and no Flash :(

[Chris Stark]

On Thursday 12 May 2005 11:35 am, Sam Varshavchik wrote:
> Mark Greenbank writes:
> > Depends on your prespective, I guess ... no Flash ads on the one hand,
> > limited functionality on the other ...
>
> Would you mind educating me as to what functionality I can get from Flash
> that I can't get from garden-variety HTML, and perhaps a bit of Javascript?

Two things: Interactivity and cross-platform/browser consistency.

Sure, you can do quite a lot of interactivity with server-side (perl, php, 
etc.) mixed with compliant XHTML, javascript, and even Java (but Java's 
market penetration rate can't touch Flash's). 

However when a consistent look and feel, production time, and download size 
are important issues to your organization, Flash is a strong contender -- 
especially if your web production team leans more toward being artists than 
programmers. My office creates Web-distributable educational software using 
Flash, and I can't think of a better tool for the job.

I don't care for the obnoxious waste of bandwidth that accompanies a good 
percentage of the Flash that's out there. But like any tool, there are times 
when Flash is the right option, and personally I like having more options 
than less.

Just my $.02
-- 
Chris Stark
Musician, Linux User, & Grad Student
http://chrisstark.com/