Flash design and development is arguably one of the fastest moving technologies (that is also being threatened now by rivals) mainly because the people who develop in it are passionate about it, and so it grows.
Whatever people say, Flash is still unsympathetic in terms of its ability to be read by search engines, but used carefully, it can be put to great effect. Hybrid sites such as our own Tradewindlondon.com can still achieve good search engine ranking while retaining the visual impact of Flash animation.
But isn't developing in Flash more expensive? Some developers work faster and smarter in Flash that they do with more traditional coding methods. Which is one reason why the answer to the cost question is not neccesarily straightforward.
Flash Design & Development: Other Info & Links
See also: Digital Creative