ive used flashplayer for many years and have watched it be a
staple in website design for all of them...

Its slow...most browsers have issues with it...there are many security issues with it...and most of the time it just gives errors...whats wrong with clicking a link to a video file with a preview pic as apposed to sucking the life out of your connection?...

Flash is nice...when it's used properly as a way to create stand-alone animated content and interactive graphic objects. There's and unending stream of great flash games, for example. My favorite example of good flash content are the educational games found here (particularly the geography ones). Now that's the way to use flash correctly.

But I absolutely can't stand it when it's used for things it's not really meant for, like site navigation. Just yesterday I had to deal with a site that had all it's basic menus programmed in flash. It was really frustrating. For some reason none of the graphics would display on my x64 system; it would only work on my older x86. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The major movie studios seem to love it too. Most of the big movie promotional sites are completely programmed in flash, and the best thing I can usually say about them is "confusing".

I'm also not too happy with the current trend towards flash-based embedded video players, a-la youtube. I guess I can understand the reasons behind it; easy-to-use interfaces and hard-to-download content. But is it really necessary to go to all that trouble? Why can't they simply provide a link to the file in question so I can play it in the player of my choice? It's not like it really protects the content, if you know what you're doing. And the quality of flash video is generally much worse than it was before they became common.

Besides, the flashplayer has a bad habit of crashing my Firefox now and then.

(Edit: P.S. when you try out the games in the link I gave, be sure to follow the links that say "for mac users". The main ones don't usually work right on Linux for some reason. Perhaps another reason to hate flash in general?)

We should not hate the technology; such things are neither inherently good or evil. Rather, we should offer our disdain to the people who misuse it. Like the old saying goes, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. There are lots of people who are insufficiently skilled to be doing the jobs they are doing. Some Flash is rather artfully and capably done and actually improves user experience in a way that other technologies can't. But it can be deceptive since most of the time Flash is used like a high-tech, CPU intensive, bug-ridden version of <BLINK>.

Flash is popular because the PHB in the corner office is dazzled by moving pictures and animations and they want the wesite to dazzle their customers as well. They have no concept of bandwidth or load times, if it works well here on our big pipe, it MUST work well for everyone else !!

I agree when used in moderation flash is OK, but unfortunately some people designing websites or specifying what they want (the PHB's) just don't get it. .


So has anyone installed silverlight on their Linux box yet ?
http://www.mono-project.com/Moonlight

Come-on We all NEED yet another plugin for animation in our browser right ?

I think you might be interested in this thread.

I guess it is in it's title, 'flash.' It seems to attract those who just love anything useless on the web. Give me a site made in php any day over flash, as well as java. I have been known to rail against both java and flash, but if I did have to pick one of the two, it would probably be flash first. I just don't see any reason why I need more and more resources to see a website. In some ways I miss the older days of the web, when viewing a website didn't drain both your bandwidth AND your system resources. Sure I'm running an almost 10 year old system, but even on a new up-to-date system, flash is just a terrible resource hog, Java comes in second.

I'm sure that there are some exceptions to flash, but what really chesses me off is when I go to a non-entertainment based site, only to be confronted with an annoying flash intro or even menus only in flash. I didn't come here to see a fscking intro, and I shouldn't even have to hunt for the skip intro link. I would just be happy to be right at the site presented in a neat fashion where links take you to where you want to go. Of course thats just me, and I'm not in the majority who are easily swayed by 'flashy' crap.

Yea, I remember when sites where like that. Simple, and things actually worked the way they were supposed to. Of course I sometimes do watch youtube videos, and yes, that does unfortunately run on flash.

People that like flash (and use it instead of java, javascripts, etc) have their point.
Take a look at this, for example.
Of course, java has its' cool stuff, but I've never seen anything like this implemented in java.
On other hand, I've never seen anything like this, this or this made in flash either. Which means that both technologies have their field of application. If flash is more popular it means simply that it is either simpler (for artists) or has better advertising campaign than java.

Theres nothing quite like pop up flash advertisements to make a website stick out.... Mmmmm

It makes me sick to my stomach.

There are alternatives to the browser plugin though:

• http://www.arrakis.es/~rggi3/youtube-dl/
• http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/pipermail/i...er/038740.html (original in OpenBSD Ports as net/yt)

When used for the creation of robust, cross-platform applications hosted online, it can be damned useful. I see it as an alternative to Java. If the FlashPlayer was more Linux-friendly I could see Flash as a wonderful platform for creating small programs, widgets, and desktop accessories for a Linux desktop.

On Windows it's pretty easy to capture a Flash/Shockwave program and convert it to a standalone .exe. I don't know of any way to do this in Linux, but I'd love to find one. Then I could create standalone versions of lots of the little Flash games that my young niece and nephews enjoy so much, and host them on an inexpensive older laptop running a lightweight Linux distro.

However, I fully agree that Flash is overused for things like ads, silly banners, and the basic user interface for websites.

Adobe flash player is so popular because of its powerful flash system that i know can be sometimes really slow at times but yeah

Haven't read all the replies, but I will drop my 2 cents of why I think flash is so popular. I will only compare it to Java (as much as I love Java) because that is the only alternative I see to Flash at the moment:

• Flash is, and has always been, smaller and easier to install than Java;
• When you hit a page with an Applet, the JVM has to load, taking precious time and processor power just to start;
• Flash has far better tools to work with exactly what it is good at: Animation. Java Applets has absolutely nothing compared to Flash CS Pro. True, true, it's a lot of money, but you know what the majority (unfortunately) does right? Torrents...
• It's far easier for a non-programmer to get right into flash. Java is a very difficult language to master. Heck, I still have to check the API when I need to write to a file in Java. It's kinda like comparing JSP technology to PHP. You can do about the same, but there is no argument that PHP is easier not only to develop, but to deploy (never seen a web hotel with support for Java, but always, always for PHP and ASP at very least)
• You can truly stream compressed content with Flash, with Java, you get a progress bar
• Back when Microsoft and Sun had a little fight and Java was removed from Windows, Sun lost a big bite of the market, in my honest opinion. They should have approached Microsoft differently, in my honest opinion.
• Java can throw some pretty nasty messages to the user. The average Joe will be scared of Java. Example:

http://blogs.sun.com/chrisoliver/res...playShelf.jnlp

That is for F3 demo, but the same applies to some Applets. First, it will download the content. Then, it will throw a warning telling the user about security (digital signature) and finally, in Windows, if the Windows Firewall is on, you will be asked to unblock the application. Try running that demo, it is like the "coverflow" made famous by Apple with iPod touch and iTunes(now on nanos and iPhones as well). That demo is a fake 3D, but it is slow as shit. Looks cool though (I will give you that). That fellows, is a F3 demo, the supposed "Flash killer".

Seriously, with all these messages, popup's, security warnings, firewall unblocking and what not, how many users you know would be completely lost?

I've tried time and time again to create a descent Applet game with Java. I ain't touching Applets again for the near future.

Just to clarify, I am totally against sites that makes use of either technology to navigation. It simply makes me sick and I usually don't visit sites like that if I can avoid it. But when it comes down to streaming content, speed, simple to develop and deploy as well as having powerful tools for development, in my humble opinion, Flash is far, far in front of anything else.

My two cents!

because it is powerfull and can be interactive EX: Flash games ads etc. I really haven't had many problems with flash at all.

flash is many things...except a sufficient example of sufficiency!.....