This past week found members of Congress distancing themselves from health care reform like so many lemmings with backup lights. Harry Reid said, “We’re not on health care now.” Dianne Feinstein said, “It’s a time out.” Isn’t a “time out” the punishment you mete out to children who behave badly and take what isn’t theirs? Just asking.
Everyone except pole vaulting Nancy Pelosi and President “I don’t quit” Obama understands that they have missed the brass ring. Their product didn’t find a market. Perhaps they should call Steve Jobs for a consultation. First, he isn’t a lobbyist, so the novelty factor alone would be worth the call. Second, this is a guy who knows how to move away from a defeat and come back with a product people really want to buy.
Before there were iPods, iPhones and iPads there was the Cyberdog Internet Suite, Taligent (a joint venture with IBM) and the ill-fated Newton PDA. The Newton analogy isn’t really fair though, since it was a device that was ahead of its time. Health care reform writ large is a 100-year-old idea that crashes and burns each time it is shined up and trotted out to a public that knows better.
You know, on second thought, forget the phone call to Jobs. They should put him in the cabinet. Businesspeople know that some ideas work and others don’t and they know that when an idea sinks it is better to be rescued and move on than it is to cling to the wreckage. Yeah ... there’s an app for that.