Out there in the WWW there are thousands sites using flash for their needs. But the majority sites are not in this list. Let's summaries some facts about flash using on YOUR web site and after that it's you who will have to decide: to use or not to use. There are some facts about Macromedia Flash Technology:

The First Fact:

Sites are look much prettier and professional with the flash animation on their pages. Users sometimes visit sites only to see flash intros if it's done in some original manner.

The Second Fact:

Flash Source Scripts cannot be stolen unlike Java Scripts or HTML code. Flash files come in "two" pieces: files with .fla extension are the actual source and .swf files are compiled version of these files. In browsers you can see only .swf files.

The Third Fact:

Flash animation files are slow to download and require flash player plug-in . Regular static graphic requires less time to download. In a couple of years when the problem of dial-up connection may be solved and fast DSL lines will be cheap and available for anyone this problem may seem not so serious, but so far we must consider this aspect, as not all users are eager to wait for a minute or two to see your flash intro. That's one of the main reason flash is not popular on the big corporate sites (but Yahoo for example displays flash advertisements on their pages)

The Fourth Fact:

Not all browser compatible with flash players. The old versions of MS Explorer and Netscape Navigator cannot display flash movies. There is a solution however: to use Java Script to check the compatibility of browser and display the static image if the player is not available for that browser. Well there is some issuer still left with browsers who cannot understand Java Scripts but there are few people who use those browsers today