Flash is a great application and when used in the right way can help provide a more interactive and engaging experience for the visitor but it's not good (in our opinion) at a number of things...
So what are the things Flash isn't good for?
Splash Page (actually, any type of splash page is bad....)
A splash page is an animated introduction, before you get to the actual website. They're horrible and only serve to frustrate the visitor. When someone visits your website, they don't want to be dazzled with sparkly graphics and things flying around the screen, they want to see your content - your message, your video, your products etc. I can't tell you how much (although I guess you're beginning to understand!) I dislike splash pages of any kind.
Complete Flash Sites
OK, some websites which are completely written in Flash do look good and are a fun experience in the beginning. But, they get annoying for the visitor after a while. Do you really want to see the same animation over and over again when you move to another page or click on an article? Plus they're horrible for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). I know, Adobe have said they've worked with search engines such as Google so that Flash content can be crawled but in the real world of SEO, we don't use full flash sites.
Update
Thanks to Tracy at Linkedin, here are some more reasons why a complete Flash site is a bad idea (I simply forgot to include these other reasons!)
Accessibility issues - Flash content doesn't work well with Screen Readers (where the computer reads the text of the page out loud for visually impaired people). True, there are various workarounds (so I've read) but why use something that needs a workaround?
Navigation and usability - Keyboard navigation can sometimes be a problem and full Flash sites can be a pain for things like searching for text and copy/paste.
Flash Menus
When you design a website, you have to make sure you make it as easy as possible for search engines to find and understand each page. Having a Flash menu simply makes it harder for search engines to crawl your website. Yes, you can do various workarounds, such as use a sitemap and a footer text menu but why use something where you have to use workarounds?
Just use a normal html menu and make it look great with CSS.
A great example of a website NOT using Flash for the above is Web Design in Wellington
