Apple - Flash and Greed; Where is the truth?

A year ago I bought my first iPhone.
I love it still and I can barely remember life before my iPhone..
It really does everything I never thought I needed to do.

It checks my mail, let's me play games, handles my sms, my msn (although through an expensive app as, not all that surprising, Microsofts own app is horrible), is a click away from wikipedia, more games, a lot of games, youtube videos, audiobooks, music.. And rarely, phonecalls.
On the other hand my old cellphones were all more a burden than anything, I never make calls, I rarely pick up calls, and on that note people learn to not call me, and I get 2-3 sms a month. Roughly.
So the step to iPhone was welcome and I'm a bit in love with it.
I also saw that half-arsed games sold in numbers I couldn't dream of..

Some apps that sell well are terrible and I'd feel dirty selling products that abuses people's weaknesses just to make money.
But there are good ones too. Really good ones. And people make really good money on it.

So, I bought a Macbook, which I came to love for work. The simplicity of the UI and the well planned memory management that I used to do manually in Windows/Linux...
Not needing virus protection and software firewalls.. (Don't bother, there are two hardware ones up. :P)
I still use the Macbook as we speak. I nearly never use the PC anymore. Despite the fact that I've invested A LOT in it. It's a monster and I've built it myself, piece by piece. Everything is customized and the chassi is silent yet brilliantly planned.
I only play games on it now.. I never have use for it. And compared to a Mac I'd say I've spent about the same amount as I would've had I bought a Mac.

Right, so I bought the Macbook, started coding things, got a job on the side, earned a little extra.. And realized.. I need an iPad.
Why?
God knows... I just wanted it and I always felt that my first real salary should be wasted on toys. Just the first one and only once, but I wasn't going to feel shame about spending it all.
So I bought an iPad. Cheap, sure, but none the less. It's not even released in Sweden yet (Mystery to me.)
And I fell in love with it. It's faster than my iPhone, sleeker than my Macbook and now I rarely use my iPhone or Macbook except for work or being outside of WiFi areas.

A year ago I was a hardcore PC user with a natural hatred towards Macs and everything Apple stood for.
It's odd isn't it?
As a Mac user (Not a fan, but very much a user. My Apple products have a total value of nearly twice that of my PC so...) I'm not against Windows, nor do I have a deep hatred towards Microsoft.
Sure, Ballmer doesn't rank high in my book, but still.

I notice that PC users and Mac users have a weird war going on between each other (As we all know) yet it feels like the PC users are the ones fighting.
I feel better with Mac. I don't hate things in the same way as I looked down on Apple...


But that's not what I'm here to talk about.
See, it struck me, as an avid gamer and game-junkie (Yes I'm addicted and I'm trying to cut down. I don't play online games anymore, but flash games.... Nomnomnom) that something's foul here...
I used to frequent quite many Flash game sites. And I still do.
On my PC.
I can't play many games on the Macbook. No reason why except it acts up weird and some things don't seem to function properly. No idea why though.....
Until I came across one of my bigger addictions in Flash games. In the iTunes store.
And I came to see what's going on here.

See, the iPad and iPhone can't play Flash at all.
The Macbook can but it's dodgy to say the least.
Apple is known to not regard Adobe highly and Adobe are known to be selfish, ignorant and overglorified.
Apple has bailed Adobe out at least twice during the years, also Steve Jobs noted on D8 that they would gladly implement Flash if Adobe made a mobile platform that doesn't drain battery.

However.. That's not all there is to this..

Steve Jobs wrote a long open letter about Adobe and Flash and you'll find lines like

"Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system."

and a following statement explaining why Apple is good by choosing HTML5.
There's the whole battery life part and how YouTube and other streaming sites are adapting.
And that's all well.


What you WON'T read is how gaming works...
Gaming is a HUGE industry and for my explanation I'll put forth the 70million users Behemoth Farmville, by Zynga.
Yes, 70million players.
And they all generate money.
Not by paying directly. No it's a free game with optional payments.
All is fair to say it's a big source. Yes. But they also make good money in advertisement.

Farmville is a flash game and as such wasn't available for iPhones and iPads until an App was released so you could play it.
In the app you do the same things, you play the same game and you can buy in-game cash there too.
As in-app purchases.
Which Apple, by default, takes 30% from.
A few games I played for free like Canabalt and others on sites I visited have been ported to iPhone, as it's a major platform.
This however, thanks to Apple, takes time to port and the time invested by the developer is something he asks a small fee in return for on the iPhone. Which is fair, it's extra work.
So you either play the Flash version (On a PC, Mac doesn't handle Flash well, remember?) or you buy the App in iTunes to play it on your iPhone for $0.99.
Which Apple, by default, takes 30% from.

See where this is going?
Flash might drain your battery. Flash might be on the way out. Flash might be replaced by HTML5.
But until then, if you want your game to be played by Mac users, you'll be able to make some extra money from it by selling it in iTunes.
And give Apple 30% of your income.
Or in other words - 30% of the money you earn from a game you provide Free in Flash format.
And Flash isn't available for iPhones, iPads and *barely* Macs....