Edit - Should be stupid, not stupic, but hey, when you're stupid....
Okay, what I know about using flash is this: You push the button that pops up your flash, and you take the picture....
Seriously, I've been shooting for awhile (mostly landscape stuff not needing flash), but I'm beginning to think there are some situations where it would be beneficial (such as keeping the shutter speed up on shots at dusk). I've read the "Lighting 101" stuff on the Strobist website - the strong recommendation there is to avoid ETTL and get a manual flash. But I think most of the uses I'd have for flash would more often be on-camera rather than off, and if the camera gives you flash exposure compensation control over external flashes, can't you basically accomplish the same thing you can with a manual power control flash? One big hesitation in getting a manual is that all I've found are fairly bulky and heavy, and there seem to be some ETTL flashes (like Canon 270ex) that are tiny but probably powerful enough for my purposes. But due to my ignorance on this topic I don't really know what I may be missing here.........
Any advice appreciated.