The real reason animated GIFs are a bad idea

[Bob Long]

At 09:35 AM 11/13/96 -0800, you wrote:
>This discussion of animated GIFs has been instructive, but now that we 
>have laid to rest the issue of impact on the server (there is none), I 
>feel it is necessary to point out that we should treat animated GIFs as we 
>would a gun. Some people will have nothing to do with them as a matter of 
>principle. Some people overuse them, thereby sometimes leading to 
>unfortunate consequences for anyone who comes in contact with them (often 
>friends and family). They should be used very judiciously and with care, 
>and only when nothing else will do. By way of example, I suggest you 
>visit the following page, which was pointed out to me by Thomas Dowling:
>
>http://www.recordpub.com/rc/faq.html
>
>I defy you to read the page. Your eye naturally wants to follow the 
>moving target, thus causing a constant distraction. Does it add to the 
>purpose of the page? I think not. Rather I think it *destroys* the 
>purpose of the page (which, I believe, is to inform, not to entertain). 
>Do you find it annoying? I do, and wild horses won't drag me back there. 
>Is that what they (or us) want? Not I. Decide for yourself.
>Roy Tennant

At the other extreme, visit:

The River Wild: Running the Selway
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/modules/selway/intro/intro.html

This site makes excellent use of animated gifs. They take you someplace and
you learn something when you get there.
        It's a beautiful site, anyway. Well worth the visit even if you
aren't interested in animated gifs.
                       
Bob