Gerry McGovern: “A Flash intro is a fourth-rate attempt at a TV ad by people who won’t get a chance to design real TV ads. They were invented by graphic designers desperate to turn the Web into TV, and who wanted to look cool and win design awards.”

Yes! Somehow, the word hasn’t reached a lot of businesses in my corner of the world. In my recent presentation about building trust online to folks from the tourism industry in Panama, I cautioned the audience about the use of Flash on their sites. I saw some heads nodding in agreement, and most of them seemed to belong to Americans.

It’s probably a cultural issue–people in Panama seemingly believe Flash-heavy sites make their businesses look cutting edge. I’d be willing to bet that a lot of users in the US (where the Panamanian tourism industry focuses most of its efforts) and elsewhere find Flash intros either hokey or outright annoying, and the businesses end up suffering as a result.