It is pragmatic from Apple's perspective. They don't need it to support the most popular video content. They don't need it to sell their product. They don't want to depend on third-parties for anything they don't have to. So they omit it.
Google can't do the same with Chrome and Chrome OS, because their product is the browser. They need to support the web as-is or they stand to lose many more potential customers than Apple has over the iPhone's lack of Flash. They have no particular need or desire to omit it entirely, but it does have problems, so improving support for it is a wise choice.
Both companies have chosen the pragmatic solution for them.
