iPad & iHealthcare: How Arrogance Invites Letdown

What do the iPad and healthcare reform have in common?  More than you would think.

Watching last week’s iPad keynote address from Steve Jobs left me with an inescapable sense of deja vu.  What I was hearing and feeling was eerily similar to how I’ve felt while following the healthcare debate raging in Washington D.C. and throughout the country.  Both issues are seemingly unrelated; one is a consumer product developed under the leadership of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and the other, overarching legislation aimed at growing government and cementing the legacy of commander in chief Barack Obama.  What could they possibly have in common?  More than you would think.

iPad

The much anticipated announcement of the new Apple iPad last week landed with a thud, a stark contrast to the excitement typical of Apple’s new product unveilings.  Speculation had swirled for over a year about how exactly Steve Jobs was going to revolutionize an as-of-yet unimpressive tablet computer market.  Surely the infallible Jobs and his brain trust at Apple would transform the way consumers viewed tablets; thin, touch screen devices would be the pinnacle of mobility and modernization.

Consumers made a few reasonable requests for their new Apple tablet: multitasking, flash support, a simple yet sophisticated operating system.

What did Apple produce?  A glorified iPhone that does none of the above, doesn’t make phone calls, and leaves consumers wondering, “Why would I need this?”  It’s big, expensive, and doesn’t address the issues.  Sure, it’s sexy and has a few impressive bells and whistles, but it’s a far cry from fulfilling its lofty expectations.

iHealthcare

And then there’s so-called healthcare reform.  Most people agree that there are aspects of the American healthcare system that can be improved upon to reduce costs and increase efficiency.  The debate has raged on over how exactly to approach reform, which has been lead by President Obama and huge Democrat majorities in Congress.  Surely the infallible Obama and his brain trust on Capitol Hill would transform the way consumers viewed their healthcare; subsidized, centralized health plans would be the pinnacle of progressivism and socialism.

Consumers have made a few reasonable requests for healthcare reform: plan portability, pricing transparency, tort reform, coverage for the uninsured, and the ability to buy health insurance across state lines.

What did Democrats produce?  A huge monstrosity that does none of the above, increases costs, nationalizes the healthcare industry, promotes rationing, imposes fines and imprisonment for failure to abide by new mandates, and leaves consumers wondering, “Why would I need this?”  It’s big, expensive, and doesn’t address the issues.

Collective Arrogance

An astute reader will have noticed that the two preceding sections are strikingly similar – and this is no accident.  These two isolated issues are illustrations of what happens when arrogant leadership is entrusted with developing solutions for the general public.  Both Jobs and Obama have enjoyed a bevy of success in the recent past, allowing them to store up stockpiles of popularity and trust for use in future endeavors.  This approval has created a collective arrogance that has led them to not only think they can do no wrong, but to believe anyone who doesn’t agree with them is either grossly uninformed or is just plain stupid.

Furthermore, Jobs and Obama have demonstrated a marked detachment from the overall makeup and attitude of American consumers.  Both are handicapped by their inability to view people as anything other than themselves.  For Obama, America is made up of victims who believe a big government will save them from all their woes.  For Jobs, America is filled with turtleneck-wearing artists who spend their days in coffee shops and bookstores working on their memoirs.  While they feel that what they are doing is in the best interest of the populous, they are in actuality created products that appeal to only a small, specialized slice of the American pie.

How is it that neither of these “smart” men have realized the fallacy of their thinking?  Arrogance.

Despite the recent surge in Apple’s success, they still struggle for meaningful market share in the personal computer industry.  In their own advertisements, Apple seeks to portray the competition as fuddy-duddy, boring, work-centric, and serious.  Apple, by contrast, is young, hip, fresh, and fun.  Although the commercials are clever and funny, they have accomplished little in swaying consumers; clearly a vast majority of Americans find it more important to be productive than creative.

Likewise, despite Obama’s plummeting approval numbers and a recent series of election losses for Democrats, Obama has chosen to move forward on unpopular healthcare reform.  No matter how many times his ideas are rejected, Obama and Democratic lawmakers continue to assert that their solutions are what the public needs.

The end result of both situations is a product that no one wants or needs.  They are big, expensive, and neither accomplishes what is wanted or needed.  In fact, they both reflect the arrogance of their creators.