The alternative explanation was similar: Adobe has yet to get its act together. Then came the promise that in due time the bugs would all get worked out. Soon the narrative became bitter. Adobe accused Apple of being greedy. Their apps were getting in the way. So now, at long last, Steve Jobs has issued his comprehensive explanation of why you can stop holding your breath. Bottom line: you are never going to see Flash-based content on your Apple iPhone. Not ever. In his public flogging of Adobe, it is their organization, not Jobs’, that come off as the greedy bastards. They also, according to Jobs, come off as giant procrastinators (or, at least, slackards). To quote Mr. Jobs:

“In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it. Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010. We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath. Who knows how it will perform?”

Ouch.

So, there you have it. As groovy cool as the graphics and effects found in Flash-based content can be (and, believe me, they can be), Adobe’s Flash continues to be a poor interactive solution both in its invisibility with search engines and its incompatibility with mobile devices. But don’t take our word for it. You can get it straight from Apple.