May 31, 2000: Beating a horse that refuses to die: Salon: DEN, Boo: R.I.P.:

"In the year 2000, there is no excuse for any professional Web site that expects to reach a wide audience of users to put on its home page an animation that requires a browser plug-in."

I disagree. I think, for example, that Animation Express (which I've worked on) is totally justified in having a Flash frontdoor. The site is a gallery of Flash (and some Quicktime and Shockwave) animation, and if you don't have the plug-in, you're not going to be able to see the content. That doesn't mean you get a broken icon or a blank screen if you don't have the plug-in. You just get redirected to a page that says it looks like you don't have Flash and explains how to get it.

So, again, the problem is not using Flash or doing whizzy things, it's doing them badly or foolishly. OK, I shut up now. (link via goodexperience)