Steve Jobs released an open letter on the Apple website explaining why they decided not to allow Flash on their iPhones, iPod Touches and the new iPad.
Interestingly, the very first arguement is about open software and open program standards such as html5, css and JavaScript, so highly relevant for the course.
Came across this article the other day - basically saying that if Adobe wants to prove that Flash can run on iPhones without any major issues, they can simply use iPhones that have been "jailbroken" (meaning they've been hacked and any app can be downloaded - circumventing the App Store). Adobe could create a Flash app to run on the iPhones and prove its points about security and performance of Flash on mobile devices.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/may/18/apple-adobe-flash-player-solution