Let me say for the record that it's really hard to match the Adobe Flash's credentials; it's been around since the early days of the web, and nothing delivers motion better than Flash.
Why does Flash gets such a bad rap? Look no further than Microsoft.
Flash has largely been demonized over the years by IT professionals because it requires an ActiveX plug-in (in Microsoft Internet Explorer) to run -- and Microsoft has had a heck of a time with ActiveX and browser security.
But when it comes to delivering motion graphics and dynamic content to the web browser, Flash is still king of the heap. Sure, new technologies like JQuery and HTML5 have offered ways to deliver video and Flash-like results, but they're still unmatched in capability.
And no matter what your IT department tells you, Flash isn't the problem when it comes to web security - Windows is the culprit. Ninety-eight percent of all browsers in the world have the Flash plug-in installed, making it one of the most pervasive web technologies out in the wild.
And why is Apple so afraid of Flash -- and insists on keeping it off the iPhone? The answer is very simple: allowing Flash on the iPhone would mean a certain hobbling of Apple's AppStore. Developers would be able to deliver applications to iPhone without going through Apple's strict and often fuzzy approval process for application approval.
So, if you're looking for a great solution to deliver multimedia content in an engaging and interactive manner to your users, Flash is still the king.
About Tim Staney
Tim Staney has more than ten years (since 1997) of web development experience building enterprise-grade web applications for Fortune 500, small business and not-for-profit enterprises across the United States and Canada over a wide-range of industries. Tim specializes in information architecture, content management with a keen focus on user experience, and social media integration.
Tim Staney is a resident of St. Petersburg, Florida and active member of his community.
Staney regularly presents to professional and community groups, speaking on social media, social marketing, web content management and web strategy.
Tim Staney is a member of the American Marketing Association and <uwebd />, University Web Developers as well as the St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral Communications Task Force. Tim is the Web Content Manager at St. Petersburg College working for the Marketing and Public Information department managing content in the college's Ektron content management system. Tim also teaches courses like Social Marketing for Small Buisness and Designing Effective Websites for St. Petersburg College's Learn to Earn program.
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Except where otherwise attributed, the statements, thoughts, views and beliefs in this blog post are solely those of the author.