Re: FLASH: Flash in Business

[DragonFly]

Wayne Townsend wrote:


> Hi DF,


Well it's really Ken Sherwood or KS, but I don't bother to change the "name" field

contents from my NG nick when I email (except for business purposes, which are

temporarily rare). :-(  Ye Olde Learning Curve Period.


> thx for writing,


Ta.


> >The home page brings up something I've been mulling over for a long time.

> >To whit:

> >What's the best way to deal with the Flash / No Flash problem? I'm sure

> >there's no

> >single best solution that works all the time, but the element that I find

> >missing

> >in so many home pages such as your own is this: a naive viewer who only

> >knows or

> >even thinks that they can't use the Flash material, isn't given a clue

> >that it's

> >worth the time it may take to download the plugin. They'll just go to the HTML

> >stuff, probably won't get as jazzed about the company as they would have

> >with the

> >Flash stuff, and are more likely to leave the site without a "Great!"

> >impression.

>

> Well, of course this is *the* issue, that we've been battling with for years.

> The answer is for Netscape, IE & MM to get together and come up with a

> native routine that works all the time for their legacy code.  It is their

> responsibility to do so.  And they're fools not to.  It ain't my job as the

> designer, it's theirs.




> They need to take their top guys & gals, lock 'em

> in a room together, and not let them out until they have an answer that is

> bullit-proof.

>

> >I'm a Flash Radical, and my personal attitude (not necessarily my professional

> >attitude) is to *force* 'em to get the plugin and be done with it

>

> Yes!  I'm with you.  Build it and they will come.  And that's the point of

> my post.

> As more important companies adopt it, the audience will adopt it.


I was heavily ramping up toward HTML Mastery when I discovered Flash, and my heart

sunk, and then lifted, as I realized I was seeing what the business end, at least,

of the Web will look like soon.


> Now, here's a publicly traded company that had the guts to do it.


There are several who have, and, another business area that uses Flash *a lot* is

musicians (yes, it's a business), artists (ditto), etc.


> I want

> my fellow designers to use this as a tool when dealing with skiddish


As well as skittish. :-)


> clients.  There's before/after there.


A good swift kick across the chasm.


> C'mon, it's not like we're asking the audience to go out and buy a new $3k

> Hi-def TV.


Inviting the neighbors in to admire my new plugin.


> But that industry doesn't seem to have any problem with

> evolution, now does it.  They know what they're doing.


Making "things" and selling them.


We are *thinking thoughts* and selling them.


> You've got to give MM credit tho.  They've made all the right moves in

> getting this thing out as standard, and done a fine job of it.  Not an easy

> task, to say the least.  They've succeeded where most others have failed.

> It's on every new PC/Mac computer sold if I'm not mistaken.  That makes it

> standard enough for me.  For the old stogies, if they want to see the cool

> stuff, they can turn their hands.  Don't worry, they will.  It's not like

> we're taking $5 out of their pocket.


No, we're doing something much more difficult.


We're asking people to make a short-term sacrifice (of their precious time (to

download the plugin)) in order to gain in the long term.


Assuming that they are willing to sit and wait as Flash Movies load, too, sigh.


Think Cable Modems.


Americans are notorious for being of the short-term-gratification-addicted type.

Hard to teach an old American dog new tricks ... especially, *patience*.


> It's a percieved value thing.  We designers hold the key here.  There's no

> question that the Flash group produces the best stuff on the net.  We just

> need to stand our ground and say, no, I'll never produce another boring

> html site again.


I shall produce dynamic ones, "crawling" before I walk. But walking in and out,

just a tad. ;-)


> Life's too short.  This is what the audience wants, and

> I'm going to give it to them.  The newbies will get a clue soon enough.

> Since I took that position btw, I've had all the work that I can handle,

> and at top $ rates.


Would you be keen on citing statistics? Heh.


If so, how many hours per week, and at what rate?


*Same questions* for your learning curve period.


*Same questions* for your reputation development period.


Thanks.


> >To me this is a key, critical consideration -- it's the old "you gotta

> >grab 'em in

> >the first 15 seconds, or you've lost 'em" routine.

>

> Absolutely true. This is a TV audience that we're dealing with now. That's

> why our loading routines should be a project/movie in itself.

>

> Notice how in those movies, I get the menu button up as fast as possible

> for the return visitors, while the intro plays independently.

>

> >Certainly someday, ideally,

> >bandwidth will be huge, and Flash will be a standard,

>

> See above.  Flash is already a standard.


Not even MM is certain that it will *remain* "the standard", nicht wahr?


> >and it'll all be *transparent*, but, for now, this obstacle *must* be a

> >designer's first big

> >consideration, and the choices made *can and do* make a huge difference in the

> >success or failure of the site to create the outcome it's seeking: increased

> >positive flow of revenue in.

>

> So, you have both versions on line for now and let the audience decide.


I like the up front choice/commitment home page that you use.


> What else can you do?  Have trust in them.  They're greedy and want the

> best stuff. They'll get the idea that they need to do this to get that, and

> do so.  It's always worked throughout history.

>

> >I guess it's like the ever-changing question of whether to design an HTML

> >page for

> >13-inch monitors, or 15-inch, or even 17-inch or larger ... and I see this

> >"convention" changing over time as I continue to explore the Web.

>

> Neat how flash scales, so the old monitor problem goes away. :)


Well, not entirely. What Flash Designer chooses type sizes with an eye toward how

readable it will be on a 13-inch monitor?


> >I would very much like to hear others' opinions on this topic -- I'm sure

> >we all

> >have one (or more), and I don't see it discussed much, as a philosophical

> >issue.

>

> Yeah, but I can't think of many issues that are more important.  So, chime

> in everybody.  I have my MagLight and Fire Extinguisher at the ready.


For the Casters of Gloom, and the Flamers?


> Lead, follow, or get out of the way.


"'cuz Wayne's a'comin' through!"


> Thx for the mail dragonfly, ATB,


DDD.


> /w

>

> Wayne Townsend

> WebStaffing.Net

> Farmersville/Princeton, Texas

>

waynettopher [dot] net

Ken Sherwood

Unique Creations

Reading, PA / Atlanta

uniqueptd [dot] net

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