[Simon Mundy]

Can anyone load the content from their site? Whose stupid idea was it to make a completely flash-based site that DISALLOWS browsers (hello? Safari? Likelihood of huge installed userbase?), doesn't display content properly and - this is just my opinion - looks like it's been painted with 5 coats of Bland gloss.

Well done. I bet someone's made some worthwhile $$$ out of that debacle.

[philzilla]

completely lame. loads up just dandy on my pc though. yet again, Macromedia raise their middle finger to the mac community. awesome. thanks, guys.

[Griggsy]

works okish for me in safari .62

[Simon Mundy]

Originally posted by Griggsy:
works okish for me in safari .62

I'm using a version higher than that and it's no go. Get the big 'Please use IE, NS, Opera or AOL'.

IE 5.2.2 worked OK(ish) after I d/l the 6r79 version of the Flash plugin. Heaps of 'object expected' errors which leads me to think there's either a lot of non-standard Javascript calls.

Whatever. What a load of slow, buggy crap. It's everything bad about Flash multiplied by 10.

[der Kopf]

Originally posted by Simon Mundy:
It's everything bad about Flash multiplied by 10.

Do you mind my asking what, in the big world of webdesign, are the principal gripes with Flash? I ask this question in a serious way, since I do a bit of webdesign on the side, and am wondering if not I should go from handcoding html/css/javascript to developing Flash, and be done with *most* of the compatibility issues. Is this a wrong perception I have? The above remark makes it sound like there is a consensus on the *baddity* of Flash. Anybody want to shed some light for me here?

[Griggsy]

Originally posted by der Kopf:
he above remark makes it sound like there is a consensus on the *baddity* of Flash. Anybody want to shed some light for me here?

Well since mx a lot of the baddiity (can't bookmark flash pages, text reading etc, have been removed or at the very least implemented at the very lowest issue). The problem with developing for flash other than the skills you have is , that is you are tied to one development platform.

'webdesign' in general like you currently doing are frees you up a lot more. Also I think this thread refers to the fact that the mmedia site don't work has more to do with a complacent atitude by the implemntors of the site rather than anything specific to flash

[eggman]

Originally posted by der Kopf:
Do you mind my asking what, in the big world of webdesign, are the principal gripes with Flash? Anybody want to shed some light for me here?

There was a notorious article published which probably best summed up the case against Flash called Flash: 99% Bad by Jakob Neilsen.

Most of the objections to Flash stemmed from the tendency for developers to build bloated sites that took forever to download (usually audio was a big culprit there) and would then dance baloney around the screen, coming between the visitor and any real meaningful content. "Skip Intro" became the most useful element of many Flash sites.

And, yes, many of the issues raised, like use of non-standard GUI elements were addressed by Flash MX's introduction of a set of standard components.

At this point I think Flash really has a lot to recommend for itself in terms of being a software development platform that enables a visitor to have a very rich experience interacting with dynamic content. And I'm not talking about kewl animation - I'm talking about good human factors engineering for creating web-app front ends.

Flash also gives a designer greater control over typography and layout than HTML and enjoys wide support and compatability across platforms and browsers.

Like any sufficiently powerful tool, you can really screw yourself up with it if you aren't careful and disciplined. Or you can make it sing.

[Simon Mundy]

I think Eggman took the words right out of my mouth.

They key word here is GRATUITOUS. They've introduced Flash into a scenario where it adds no value to the existing site, and places many more barriers to obtaining information/content than existed before.

I do like Flash. I use it to create interesting diagrams, helpful menu systems, guides, tutorials and similar things. I admire people who can create animations and short movies in ways that are not possible in other digital media (Strongbad, anyone?). When it's used in the right hands, it makes you sick with envy. In the wrong hands it just makes you sick.

I urge anyone and everyone to fill out their ludicrously slow feedback form and tell them how much the new site sucks.

[OptimusG4]

Just wait til MS buys them out (it'll happen eventually). The only thing I ever liked from Macromedia was Dreamweaver, and even with MX I'm thinking of looking elsewhere.

[Tesseract]

http://www.skipintro.nl/skipintro/