Good article on Flash / Open Source / etc....

[Kendric Beachey]

Ah, crap, I accidentally replied just to Bradley and not to the list.  Here is 
the rerun...

I feel like an NRA member here (which is a bit of a departure from the norm).
Flash is just a tool:  you can use it to do dumb stuff, but that doesn't mean
the tool itself is bad.

I like to think at least a couple of the Flash thingies on our website are
more useful than stupid.  At the very least, you don't see them unless you
ask to.  Here, so you can see what I'm talking about:

http://www.garmin.com/products/gps5/
Click on the links in the "Interactive Demo" box.

http://www.garmin.com/products/etrex/
Click on the link in the "eTrex Product Showcase" box.

Here is the one example that might make you cringe...
http://www.garmin.com/products/rino/

...although if you don't have Flash, it doesn't bust your chops; it just
displays a static image.  The guys that put it there realize it's not that
important, just kind of cutesy.

On Wednesday 19 March 2003 09:51 am, Bradley Miller wrote:
> Uh -- have you ever programmed in Actionscript?  Have you programmed a
> RIA?   Closed minds are difficult to open I suppose . . .    If you think
> Flash is just animation, then you will be missing another boat very soon.
>
> -- Bradley Miller
>
> At 10:46 AM 3/19/2003 -0600, you wrote:
> >Quoting Bradley Miller <bradmiller at dslonramp.com>:
> > > If it wasn't for graphics and ease of use, the Internet wouldn't be
> > > where it is now.  Period.  I can see the next generation of web sites
> > > that use capabilities beyond javascript/HTML/etc.... and it has to run
> > > on something,
> > >
> > > and that something is Flash.   Flash isn't all about moving trinkets
> > > and eye candy . . . it's a very sophisticated application language that
> > > happens
> >
> >Bull.  Flash is dancing spam.  Flash is the <BLINK> tag of the new
> > century.
> >
> >There is no useful information conveyed by 99% of the animation on web
> > pages today.  I think back to when Blair Lake was the Big Deal Internet
> > Advertising Agency in KC, back when advertising on the web was just
> > starting.  They did a splash page for their site that had a drop of water
> > hitting a pool (lake, get it?) and ripples going out.  People everywhere
> > were going to their site to look
> >at the "cool graphics".  Try to find Blair Lake today.
> >
> >Try to remember one thing: content.  The web is about content.  You can do
> >dancing spam and flash animation all you want, but once people have seen
> > it ONCE, they're done.  What will keep your site alive is content, not
> > Flash.
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------
> >This mail sent through tarcanfel's horde/imp system
>

--
Kendric Beachey
ak at kc.rr.com

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