A lot of web designers and developers ponder what direction the web is heading in the next few years.  I always thought that the web was always behind in time when I made my first web site back in 2000.   Which was basically a cool looking image with all these hotspots in them for links.  I think I might of had some javascript actions like show/hide and toggle (yea I was pretty cool). 

 I started getting into a lot the flash stuff, because it looked flashy and cool.  It seemed when flash mx 2004 and flash 8 came out, there was nothing but really crazy looking(mostly non-dynamic) flash sites all over the place.  I appreciated such a free platform where anyone could put whatever they wanted to on the page, but it seems as though AJAX turned out to do a lot of things flash could do.  So why even use flash?  With SEO being very popular, and developers building better techniques in javascript (i.e mootools, scriptaculous, etc), why even use flash when web 2.0 is here.  For me, it didnt seem like web 2.0 didnt get popular till late 2006.   I could be wrong but that is my perspective. 

So my question is where is future heading for web designers and developers.  When are we going to be heading into web 3.0?  Maybe web 3.0 will have a 3D like feel.  I would whole heartily agree that web is going to get much better in functionality, that will be able to match superior designs.  I see a lot of flash CMS sites now, and I dont know how hard is is to incorporate  a backend language into flash, but it seemed like it would be quite difficult a few years ago.  However, being a 3d guy (maya), I honestly like what the new flash cs4 has to offer.  It seems as though a lot of software engineers are starting to understand complex 3D programs and are now incorporating them into web type programs such as the new flash, giving more dimesions to the program itself. Check out a tutorial on the new flash CS4 at Lee Brimelow's website.

 As time passes, people expect more and more out of websites. The standard of professionalism is exponentially being increased fairly quickly. Animation and video are two valuable tools you can use to help your site attain this standard and move beyond it. Static web sites often will not cut it in the marketplace of the present, requiring you to up the visual ante.

Animation can be a variety of things, and can vary in complexity. For instance, animation can be as simple as having a small animated portion of a button, or some professional, simple animated text in your banner. Or on the other end of the spectrum, there could be constant moving parts in your banner, such as brief explanations of the various services you offer. There is a huge array of possibilities that will work very well in your website to bring your message to life.

Video is another medium that has exploded in recent years on the web at large. Dedicated video sites like Youtube have sprung up all over the place. The presence of a video on your site, whether a promotional video or just a single person talking to your website's visitors, can make your site feel more personal and alive. Such a feature turns your site from merely a marketing tool to a personal connection to your site's visitors.