Ok, so you too agree that there's no technical reason why Apple should worry about backwards compatibility with Adobe more than with any other native app producer.

As a matter of fact, it seems to me that one (I) may then argue that having to deal with more then one actor at every upgrade to make sure that all software already in the market works, is probably harder and less convenient than having to deal with ONE actor to gain compatibility with a number of applications.
So, Flash is really not providing backward compatibility issues here more than any other native product is.

Which is why



I too tend to agree on this.

Moreover, this is strategically (maybe not ethically) the right time to play the power game agains Adobe and others. iPhone is actually a big success NOW, regardless of Adobe and any other intermediate software layer producer, and iPad is reinforcing the platform market success; in a power game between Apple and Adobe (or any other), Apple definitely seems to me the prevailing one. My guess is that Apple wants to use its current market power (entirely independent from Adobe) to get rid of Flash and similar products now. Should they fail, they can alwways step back and eventually allow Flash and similar. But it is really a "now or never" situation.

I'll leave ethical considerations aside.

As a consumer, instead, I find this whole thing academically interesting - from a market analysis point of view - but I am not happy. Similarly, referring to Bitt's and Bruno's comment on Flash technology, I may agree that it's not technically / conceptually the best out there, and, in that respect, I may be ok that Apple's move may favour its extinction, hopefully, but not necessarily, in favor of some better one; still, I am not happy.
The reason being that today there are websites out there which rely largely on flash, and whether Bruno (just an example ) or Jane Smith or anyone else decide not to visit them is completely irrelevant to me: I may wanto or need to visit them, and I can't with the iPhone. So should I be looking for some handheld browsing experience, iPhone may not be the way to go for me.

All in all, this power game is not beneficial to me in the short run, and in the long run it's not going to necessarily be a good thing.

I am now just hoping that Windows Phone 7 includes/allows flash. I am sure Microsoft is watching this whole story with great interest, and I think that if Apple persists in moving against Adobe, MS will try a different strategy and allow flash and similar on their platform.
After all, Zune gave me a much better experience than iPod (even though I never even tried Zune HD), and it could very well be the same with Win Phone 7.

Will see...