Today’s audience is much different than it was in the past. Instead of being a novelty to the world, the internet is now a normal part of life. Nowadays, the audience is much larger and has expecations for the manner in which information is communiced.

It was a lot easier to experiment with new media in the old days because there were no standards, no rules, no expectations. The internet was an uncivilized frontier, a wild west of sorts, where you were free to do as you please. That’s what made those times both exciting and frustrating…

We should always recommend to clients the most effective means of communication whether text, audio, video, Flash apps, etc. or some combination thereof. Each client will have their own unique set of constraints, parameters, etc. but almost all will listen to your recommendation if there’s rationale behind it…we should always be pushing ourselves and the client outside of the present comfort zone.

Greater proliferation of broadband and more media attention will certainly help us to convince / sell clients and validate any “crazy ideas”. It’s always easier to point to examples of something that’s close to what you’re trying to get them to imagine.

Flash is appropriately named because that’s what you get out of it. It makes your site flashy. I feel certain you understand me when I say that there’s a definite line between an attractive site and an excessively dolled up site.

Your website should be designed to accentuate your content. Flash is just slight of hand that attempts to convince the end user that your postcard sized blurbs actually amount to something.

Don’t think I just hate on Flash though. I think in subtle doses it can make a huge difference–think sIFR, video or audio streaming, complex effects in small doses.

Podcasting and vidcasting, the other bastard children of the internet, have real hope though, but only when they serve a purpose. I think it’s safe to say that most people would rather listen to a conversation than read a transcript… but at the same time, there’s no reason to provide users with an audiobook version of your blog.

It’s all situational. When these tools lose a little more of their fad status and designers better understand where these tools are effective, I think we’ll start to see them more.

I do agree that it’s tough (read: not impossible, but challenging) to approximate that same sense of personality and user-friendliness by solely using text and images.

Right now, the general trend is to “design with less,” “provide less features,” “discard the non-essential stuff,” etc. However, I think that designers/developers, once they’re sufficiently weary of the prevailing Less philosophy, will start dipping into their box of goodies again. Only this time, they’ll build smarter, using the lessons learned in the post-dot-com era as a framework for creating richer New Media experiences.