Flash is one of the most significant applications in new media history.
It has become a “killer app” that has been embraced by a wide spectrum
of developers. In addition, Flash is uniquely community driven, with
developers freely sharing tips, tricks, and processes with each other,
and also contributing to the development of the application itself. Flash
5 is the most significant release, featuring a more productive interface,
a revised animation timeline, and new ActionScripting language.
Flash has functioned primarily as an authoring application for Web developers,
enabling the creation of high-impact, fully interactive Web sites. Previous
to Flash, creating animated Web sites (complete with sound) involved large
files, which required equally robust bandwidth. Flash files, in contrast,
can be very small, making bandwidth less of a concern. Furthermore, Flash
has brought a level of advanced animation and interactivity previously
unavailable using traditional internet technology. Though Flash is predominantly
used for the Internet, its power is expanding, and its use outside of
the Web is increasing. Flash can be used for the Web, for kiosks, for
presentations, and CD-ROMs, among other things. Flash is successful for
a number of reasons, and one of the primary reasons is the core of its
image technology: vector graphics.