Most consumers don't know what flash is or what it's for, and they won't until they try to use something that requires flash on a site that requires it.

Personally, I don't care if my phone runs flash, but if I'm buying an iPad, which is primarily a media consumption device, then I want it to consume all the media available to it. The difference between myself and the average consumer is that I know what media the iPad won't consume when I make my purchase decision. I think a huge number of users will assume the best browsing experience on the planet includes using all the web sites they can on their desktop machines.

I really have no real love for Flash, but I do not like it when a company strong arms the industry. I think Apple may kill flash (and potentially Silverlight) off with this move- and that saddens me. This is NOT the consumer choosing their browsing experience, it is Apple choosing for them.