The Real Reason Apple Won’t Allow Flash on iOS

{This isn’t something I would typically post, but my daughter was so spot on with this that I just had to to share it.}

My nine year old daughter, Maya, has had an iPad for close to a year now. We bought her the iPad at the end of third grade as she was getting to a point where she was going to need a computer of her own. At the time the iPad seemed like the perfect solution. I’m glad to say that it has server her well for both educational and entertainment purposes. She made some outstanding charts and graphs for a science project using Numbers as well as conquered numerous levels on every edition of Angry Birds.

Before she had her iPad she would use one of the laptops sitting around the house to play games online. Most All of those games were built with Adobe’s Flash technology. When she got her iPad and tried to access one of her favorite sites at the time, Webkinz, she was disappointed to find out that she couldn’t use the site because the iPad doesn’t support the Flash plug-in. She asked me why, and I made some references to this post by Apple. She just nodded her head and said “OK dad, maybe I should write a letter to Steve Jobs.” Every few months she asks me about Flash on the iPad, hoping that Apple has changed their mind about allow the plug-in on iOS. Of course, I have to crush those hopes.

The other night was different. On the way to swim practice we started talking about Flash on the iPad. Here’s the conversation:

Maya: “Dad, I think I know why Apple doesn’t allow Flash on iPads.”

Me: “Oh really? Tell me why.”

Maya: “Simple, if they allowed Flash on iPads, people wouldn’t need MacBooks.”

Me: “OK, go on.”

Maya: “Well if people didn’t need MacBooks, then Apple wouldn’t sell as many MacBooks and they would make less money.”

Me: “You know what? I never thought about that before.”

Maya: “Yeah, I was just thinking about it.”

Brilliant!

ag