Firefox slows down with the Google Pacman. It's a really cool concept, but JavaScript has limitations.

Flash is just like anything else on the web -- garbage in garbage out. But if done well, the Flash user experience can be much better in terms of functionality, speed, and ease of use. People just assume it's only for games if they haven't looked into the capabilities. As for apple deciding not to allow Flash on their hardware, it's just a corporate pissing contest so they can get more of a share in the online video space. Apple just knows if they put out some cocky letter like they did, their fan base will support it no matter what.