I think Apple just isn't interested in a proprietary format they can't control...they don't want to be too beholden to another company's release schedule, fixes, and road map.
I think that is one reason why Microsoft released Silverlight, as well...they want control of their own destiny.
Interesting post by Dave McAllister at Adobe:
http://blogs.adobe.com/open/2010/02/...pen_trail.html
Quote:
Flash is open.
No, it's not pure open source. It's not a perfect standard with national bodies arguing over each must, will, or shall.
But in follow the comments from our CTO's posting "Open access to Content and Apps", I noticed that there are comments about Flash not being an "open" technology and questions about why we don't open source the Player, so I thought I'd jump in and provide some details to help clear up some misconceptions and explain how open we are with the Flash Platform.
(Might I also suggest you check out this "Open at Adobe" video on YouTube.)
The main reason we can't release Flash Player as open source is because there is technology in the Player that we don't own, such as the industry standard hi-def video codec, H.264. Adobe pays for that codec so video plays reliably worldwide, across browsers and OS's. So we make it as open as we can - by releasing the specifications.
The Flash file format (SWF) specifications are open and unrestricted, so any company - even Apple - can build their own Flash Player if they want. Also freely available are related specifications for the Flash ecosystem: RTMP, FLV/F4V, AMF, and MCD.
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He makes an interesting point-Apple could make their own Flash player. They did it with PDF; in my usage, Apple's Preview is much faster and more reliable than Adobe Acrobat Reader.