smooth wombat's Journal: Flash must die! (and no Silverlight either)

I, and others, continually harp on the use of Flash on the intertubes. Everything, it seems, now must use Flash. Even if you're showing one picture, you have to use Flash. Jpeg, gif, bmp, tiff, all are verboten.

Now, for some unknown reason, my mutual fund company has decided to make their opening page essentially Flash-only. Go to www.janusfunds.com and see what I mean. If you have Flash, disable it or uninstall it before going there.

Now, as a normal investor, how am I supposed to be able to get to my account? I can't. There is no link available for me to use. I must use Flash, with all its known security issues, to get into my account.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

As of this date, I will henceforth work towards the destruction of Flash on all web pages. For all you uber-web designers who think you're being hip and cutting edge for using Flash on the front page of a web site, think again. You're morons. Read my lips: Flash has absolutely, positively, no use being the only way to access a web page. It is utterly backwards and imbecilic to think that people should have to sit through an animation when all they want is a link to whatever.

Yes, I will be writing to Janus and letting them know how utterly pathetic this new change is and what an insult it is to everyone who simply wants to click a link and get about their business. What about people who have sight problems and have to use screen readers? Congratulations Janus, you've just prevented them from getting into your site.

Flash must die. Now. People better hope I never get into a position where I can dictate policy on web design because the first words out of my mouth will be: If Flash is used as a means to access information, you will be fired. No exceptions.

Flash is the new blink tag and must be treated as such. It must be excised from every page when possible. Hackers of the world unite! Kill Flash in all its incarnations. Bring down the servers, burn the buildings, crucify web designers who use Flash! Go now my minions and do my bidding!!!!! (Note how ticked off I am by the use of five exclamation points)

end rant

cut off Adobe's AIR supply, too

[yagu]

With you all the way on this. Seems the closer we ever get to standards, the more freaked vendors get and try to show their way to do internet apps, i.e., proprietary and at their bidding. I'm pretty sick of that. Thank goodness this kind of maneuvering didn't happen at the advent of TCP/IP (though it was close... ARCNet, WinSock, etc.)

And now add to your list, Adobe's AIR, their way of encouraging "rich" internet apps. Another technology to be in awe of, another technology to learn because company's want the latest and greatest, and another proprietary technology to muddy the internet waters.

Re:

[smooth wombat]

As if on cue, on the front page of Secunia there is a report of multiple vulnerabilities in Flash which can allow someone to compromise your system. The link [secunia.com] describing the who, what, where.

It's a logon page folks, not some shitty video on YouTube (which also should be hung for using Flash).

Age old wisdom...

[Shadow Wrought]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

You forgot one case

[Yvan256]

If Flash is used as a means to navigate, you will be fired.

Hm.

[virgil_disgr4ce]

You're conflating bad design with bad platform. Yes, the Janus site is poorly designed. But their choice to leave out the functionality you're looking for doesn't have anything to do with Flash or not. They clearly could have designed their bad site without Flash, and I'm sure it would still be bad and user unfriendly.

Yes, there are countless examples of shitty, irritating Flash out there, but I bet you're conveniently ignoring the countless examples of useful, even seamless Flash, because they never

Re:

[Jaime2]

Because Flash is not an Internet technology. Flash is a desktop app that runs in the space left blank by a web browser. It represents all of the wrong things to do with the World Wide Web. Flash makes the Internet a network for downloading applications instead of a series of connected documents.

Flash is also one company's strategy to get everyone to abandon free and open standards and gradually move to their platform. The more success Adobe has, the more closed and demanding Flash will get. It preven

Re:

[_2Karl]

Regardless of whether the flash itself is poorly designed or fantastically designed, it fundamentally breaks the web user-model. Firstly, it requires proprietary software to be installed on the client machine in addition to any browser. Secondly, users are constrained to view the content in the dimensions set out in the original design (they are unable to enlarge fonts for example). Thirdly, any people browsing in text only mode (some people still use analogue modems) are going to be short-changed.

There are

Not really.

[f_raze13]

Well, I just went to Janus' website, and you can access it with or without flash by clicking "access account" at the bottom of the screen. You don't need flash to access accounts, nor is the entire site Flash based.