Flash is very good at things like interactive maps, but just because one uses Flash for some elements doesn't mean it must be used for everything.

I think a lot of odd choices get made because people get wrapped up in the fun bits like design and forget that they have a more specific mission, to sell houses. If they'd started by asking themselves "what content must we provide to get qualified buyers to fill out our inquiry form?" and "what technology should we use to produce that content" they might have ended up with a very different looking site, one that would have guided visitors to the pages they needed to make an informed purchasing decision. Instead they came up with a site that may have been stunning but caused you to walk away. Granted you may not have been in their target audience, but if the design gets in the way of the message, then something is clearly wrong.

Ari
I didn't say much about audio mostly because the post was getting so long. But you bring up a very important point. Sound should only be used if it helps communicate something specific and it should never be set to autoplay. Music that starts playing unexpectedly can be very jarring to visitors. If they are surfing the Web at lunch in their offices or while working in coffeehouses and libraries it can also be disturbing to others in the room.

While keeping the music off has become a pretty well known best practice, as you mention, there are still too many sites who ignore it. Sites such as you describe have no need for music. If we want to book a hotel or buy a house, some bit of ambient jazz isn't going to impress us. Nor will it push us towards purchasing. Instead it is more likely to push us away.

Sound is more appropriately used for podcasts or for situations such as promoting a CD where listening to samples (by choice) helps visitors decide whether or not to buy. For example, Cleveland Orchestra violist, Eliesha Nelson just released her CD, Quincy Porter: The Complete Viola Works. I built the site a few years ago as she was preparing the recordings, but for her CD launch this fall, we added a music player that will play ~30 second snippets of each song. The player also includes a link to an alternative content page for people using browsers, such as some readers for the visually impaired, that may not support Flash. That page instead includes a listing with links to .mp3 files of the excerpts.

So, I totally agree. We should never provide audio unless there is a logical reason to do so.

Cleveland is pretty cool. We're like a small Chicago, with an industrial history. The greater metro area has a population of about 2,945,831 making us the 14th largest metro area in the U.S. (probably similar to the greater Leeds area) The city itself has lost population with many moving to the suburbs so it ranks 33rd. The bus video was shot from the heart of downtown to University Circle which is our cultural area on the eastern edge of the city. It's about a 15 min. bus ride so I speeded up the video.

I think the biggest surprise for people who've not been to this part of the U.S. is our waterfront. People don't realize how large Lake Erie really is and that we're actually a sizable coastal port. I've had to explain to friends on the East Coast that it looks like the ocean and that one cannot see across the pond to Canada.

You can get a sense of that in my recent sailing pics.

Cheers!

I am drawn to moving pictures,
I think they're all the rage
Their content may be vacuous
But they keep me on the page

I thought your video of Euclid Avenue was interesting and gave me an insight into the city in which you live.

Maybe that is because I follow you on Twitter, we have exchanged views etc, so I have more invested than I would have in a casual look at a stranger's page. But it still remains the case that I am attracted to moving pictures.

Of course, it is not an 'either - or' situation. Good video should trump poor video. You have inspired me to find out.