Oscar Trelles

Flash Does Not Suck, People Suck

I’m tired of reading articles by seriously misinformed authors trying to pull off “traffic boost stunts” exploiting the eternal conflict between hard-core defenders of the plain-vanilla web and the community of flash developers, so I’m not linking to them. It is idiotic to be blaming Flash for all that is wrong on the web these says: Flash is just a tool, it is us who can misuse it.

Answering to a question about the present and future of Flash on LinkedIn, I wrote:

“Flash is probably the best that has happened to the web as a marketing medium, but is has to be used with responsibility. Developers need to make careful choices when deciding just how much Flash is good for an specific project, considering both final user and client expectations.”

It isn’t a simple job. There are a number of variables to consider when deciding to include or exclude specific demographic groups, in terms of usability and accessibility. The truth is that Flash actually makes it easier for developers to develop usable and accessible web applications, but most decide not to.

It is fine if you don’t like Flash, don’t use it. However, that doesn’t invalidate it as a valuable tool that makes a huge difference, when used responsibly.