Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple broke that status quo by not allowing flash on iDevices at all. They had the advantage of the Steve/Apple "the people like it because we say they should and they think we a cool" super-power though, which MS do not currently poses, and they had both the performance (much Flash code is badly written and would devour battery life) and UI (much flash code that is out there won't work well on a touch-screen interfa…
But the iOS devices were something of a new market. Was there an established precedent for Flash on mobile at the time? So banning plugins (including Flash) on a desktop OS browser seems like a significant new move.
But Apple advertised the iDevices using the phrase "the whole Internet", which to many very much includes Flash.