Digging this ancient thread up to make a few comments.
I didn't know that Flash didn't work on an iPad until I bought it. For me personally, I know it's because I didn't pay much attention to what was said about the iPad when it first came out last year - either good or bad. Having said that, I don't mind not having it. All of the sites I'm interested in viewing don't require flash to view. As others have said, if there's something I need to view using flash, I'll jump on the computer.
What I am miffed about has nothing to do with Apple. I think it's crap that the app Hulu has created is for subscribers only. You have to have a Hulu account in order to use the app.
Reading this thread has also enlightened me as to what HTML5 is. I, for one, am glad that Apple is standing its ground and pushing innovation forward. Someone in this thread stated that flash isn't even a big money maker for Adobe. If that's the case, they should let it go completely and embrace the next step in the evolution of the internet.