iPad launch

iPad was launched on Saturday April 3rd. According to some analysts, the demand was a little bit under-whelwing given the huge hype leading up to the launch.

Tonight NPR had a special session devoted to iPad. Walt Mossberg of WSJ was on the program. It appears that Walt still thinks iPad is just a replacement for laptop. I think that is really a wrong assessment of iPad's potential. Like I said before, iPad is NOT meant to be just another cool gadget. It is meant to replace print media such as newspaper, magazine, and book.

The success of iPad will NOT be determined by the hardware, but by the software application. Will people use iPad as an alternative to print media? I certainly think so and hope so.

WSJ today had a full page ad showing the Journal on iPad. Really cool!

Debunking the myths about healthcare reform

Debunking myths about Healthcare Reform

1. “ObamaCare” is a huge government take-over of healthcare

First of all, up until recently, Obama did not put out any reform proposal. From the get-go, Obama asked the congress to come up with reform that achieves three broad goals: expanding coverage, reduce cost, and improve quality. Only recently when Obama saw the stalemate in the Congress, did he put out his own proposal.

By labeling HC reform as “ObamaCare”, some politicians are basically appealing to the raw fear of some fringe group of people about a Black President. These are the people who will oppose to anything from Obama. They don’t even accept Obama as the President of the US.

Is the HC reform proposed by Obama a government take-over?

Far from it! For the futile pursuit of bi-partisanship, Obama even abandoned the idea of a Public Option and National Healthcare Exchange, which are supported by majority of American public. Yet even with that significant compromise, the Republicans are still united against it. What's Bi-partisanship? Bipartisanship means compromise: everyone gives up something to achieve a consensus. But if you say either my way or noway, then that is not bipartisanship.

Obama's HC reform proposal is not a government take-over. It is just a health insurance reform. Almost every HC sector supports it, from the AHA representing hospitals, to the American Medical Association representing doctors, to AARP representing senior citizens, and Phrama representing the biopharmaceutical industry. Guess who is the only party that adamantly against it? The Health Insurance Industry!

2. Expanding coverage to the uninsured is too costly and we can’t afford it

Is it true?

First of all, even without insurance, the uninsured are already costing the HC system. When they get sick, they go to the ER, which costs even more. That cost is actually passed on to all of us in the forms of higher insurance premium. This is called “cost shifting”.

Sure there will be some extra costs to bring these uninsured into the coverage. But in a long term, everyone’s insurance premium could come down, because hospitals don’t have to spend charity care for the costly medical treatments for the uninsured.

Moreover, it is morally wrong not to have universal healthcare. Poor countries like China are doing that. Shame on us if we don’t! We are a country that spends almost half of the world HC spending, yet achieving sub-par HC outcome, and yet not able to cover everyone.

There are broad socioeconomic benefits to have universal HC. Say you have a great business idea, and want to start a new business. Right now, you may be afraid to do that because you will lose your employer-based Health Insurance and leave your wife and children vulnerable. With universal coverage, that would not be a problem.

3. People trust private insurance companies more than they trust the government

Give me a break!

Without government oversight and regulation, do you honestly believe that the insurance won’t deny your necessary care in pursuit of higher profits?

How do insurance companies make money? They make money from the difference between what they collect, or premiums, and what they pay out, or medical claims.

So there are two ways for the insurance companies to make more money: raising the premium, which they often do, and deny medical claims, which they often do too.

Over the last decade, insurance premiums have doubled. Insurance companies actually cherry-pick who they want to cover. They want to cover the healthy ones because they don’t have a lot of medical claims. If you have pre-existing conditions, God help you! If you try to purchase insurance on your own, God help you!

Are you still saying you prefer private insurance over the government? If you do, you are a stupid teabagger with an IQ that matches Sarah Palin’s.

4. 90% of people are happy with their health insurance

Yes, 90% of people are happy with their health insurance, only until they get sick and old, or lose their jobs.

Enough said!

5. Tort reform will solve all the problems

Malpractice insurance is a tiny tinny portion of our national total healthcare spend, which topped 2.5 trillion dollars in 2009. Eliminating malpractice insurance won’t do a din to the total health care cost. Some politicians sound like tort reform is their best reform idea. They are either stupid, or deceitful. You make the judgment.

Final words: HC Reform cannot wait any longer. Our nation has a broken health system. We cannot just pass it over to the next generation. The power of vested interests is too strong. You have to fight for it. It's your future. It's your children's future.

Oh, it's an iPad.

OK, it is iPad! You can make fun of the name. But this device will indeed be revolutionary. I call it a digital Gutenberg. Yes, digital Gutenberg!

One big surprise is the low price points of the device, as low as $500 for the 16G Wifi model. Many has expected it to be close to $1000.

Apple is notorious for its expensive laptops and Macs. Why Apple set such a low price point for this revolutionary product (not too much more expensive than those junk netbooks)? Steve Jobs said it loud and clear: we want to get this product to as many people as possible.

The iPad is a Trojan horse. Apple is not going to make a lot of money selling the iPads. I figure that they are barely break-even after counting the production and distribution costs.

So where is the beef? I think it is in the eBooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines, and games, and yes, mobile advertising that can be exploited here. Apple gets 30% cut of all the things sold through iTunes, AppStore, and eBookStore. More over, once the volume reaches a critical mass, Apple will allow advertisers to dynamically place targeted ads in eBooks, eNewspapers, eMagazines and, of course games and other applications.

So clearly iPad is a Trojan horse. The hardware is not the key. It is the future Apps.

The eBook application is exciting. Imagine you have a book you want to publish and sell. You go to Random House. They tell you that you have to put $8M upfront for them to publish it for you. Where can you come up with the $8M?

Well, with ePub, you can publish your book for just a few hundred bucks, and then sell it through iPad's eBookStore! Wow, I am tempting to write a book now. Maybe I can sell a million copy and get rich quick :)

During the presentation, New York Times showcased its eNewpaper app specifically designed for iPad. I read a couple of newspapers and periodicals, such as FT, NYT, WP, WSJ, Economists, etc. When I travel, I don't want to carry them with me. Now I will just take the iPad.

For the newspaper companies, they will save printing, and distribution costs (so iPad is a very "green" product). It is not an exaggeration if I say iPad may save the entire newspaper and magazine industry!

Now you understand why I call iPad digital Gutenberg.

Extra: Qualcomm stock dropped more than $8 after Apple indicated that the iPad uses its in-house designed ARM chip (remember the PA Semi group Apple acquired a few years ago?). Unlike the x86 market, which is dominated by one single company Intel (I don't think AMD counts), the ARM world is fiercely competitive. Every single IC design house in the world has its own design. I doubt either Intel or Qualcomm is a good long term investment. Even Google is under treat if Apple can use iPad to dominate mobile advertising. Google has a hard time to translate its success in desktop advertising into the mobile market. I will stick with Apple.

Disclaimer: I own some shares of Apple's common stock. So take whatever I said with a grain of salt.

iSlate or iPad, whatever it is called, will revolutionize the printed media for ever. Steve Jobs's last act.

Tomorrow, Apple will unveil the long anticipated "latest creation", iSlate, or iPad, a tablet device that has captured enormous interest and hype in the media.

But this is not hype. If Apple can pull it off, this could be a revolutionary device that will for ever change the "printed" media as we know it. This is probably Steve Jobs last act, and maybe also the most significant one in terms of its impact.

Forget about iPhone! This iSlate thing is ten or even a hundred times bigger!

Printed media are doomed in its current forms. It is a matter of time. Since the invention of the Gutenberg printing press, this industry has not had any significant innovation. Yes, you may say Xerox was pretty big. And, color was available a few decades ago. Other than that, the printed media have remained static for hundreds of years.

This will change. The iSlate will enable a whole new experience. Not only the content can be dynamic and real time, it can also be presented to readers/viewers in multiple forms: audio, video, text, or hyperlink. It is going to be a whole new experience.

Imagine you read the latest Wall Street Journal: the stock quotes page can be updated in real time. If you click on it, the stock chart will pop up. Don't know what "CDS" means, just click on it. The interview with President Obama now can be both text and video.

Imagine you are reading a travel magazine: all the beautiful photos and video clips are now just one-click away. Not to mention the targeted advertising that gives you latest deals in vacation.

And best of all, a lot of rain forest will be saved!

Believe me, this iSlate thing is huge! Apple will dominate the media industry for years to come.

Disclaimer: I am a shareholder in Apple common stock.