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US President Obama compares Healthcare.gov’s ‘glitches’ to an Apple product launch

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmRA_tML2tE&start=675]

During President Obama’s live remarks addressing the government shutdown and Obamacare site outages today, the U.S President compared the issues with healthcare.gov to an Apple product launch (via WashingtonPost):

Now, like every new law, every new product roll-out, there are going to be some glitches in the sign-up process along the way that we will fix. I’ve been saying this from the start. For example, we found out that there have been times this morning where the site’s been running more slowly than it normally will.

And we’re going to be speeding things up in the next few hours to handle all of this demand that exceeds anything that we had expected. Consider that just a couple of weeks ago, Apple rolled out a new mobile operating system, and within days, they found a glitch, so they fixed it. I don’t remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads or threatening to shut down the company if they didn’t. That’s not how we do things in America. We don’t actively root for failure. We get to work, we make things happen, we make them better, we keep going.

He is of course referring to the release of iOS 7.0.2 last week, which brought fixes for a lock screen passcode bypass flaw and other small issues.

Obama is a confirmed iPad user and is frequently seen carrying around the device so perhaps he’s speaking from some 1st hand experience…

In other U.S government related news, The Verge notes that Apple along with two dozen other companies have now signed letter in support of bills that would allow them to disclose more information about government information requests.

Many of the same companies, such as Apple and Twitter, along with groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, joined with CDT earlier this summer to send a letter to Congress pressing for the introduction of such legislation.

The new letter voices the signers’ strong support for Senator Al Franken’s S. 1452, the Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013, and Representative Zoe Lofgren’s H.R. 3035, the Surveillance Order Reporting Act of 2013, each of which would clarify that companies have the right to publish basic statistics about the government demands for user data that they receive—including demands under FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

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Comments

  1. todd - 10 years ago

    Mr. Obama………… You’re no Steve Jobs and this farce of a Healthcare act is no Apple product. You’re a sad imitation of a President sir.

    • George (@GosplGuy) - 10 years ago

      Concur.

    • Martin Andreas Kruse - 10 years ago

      Then tell me what exactly are you?

      • todd - 10 years ago

        Not the President of the United States? How’s it about me all of a sudden? Or are you just made that I insulted your Dear Leader.

    • Joel Michel - 10 years ago

      Steve Jobs was a liberal Dem that supported the healthcare act and Obama in fact he raised money for both his presidential campaigns and Senate campaign. He would have no patience for narrow minded people like you…

    • Spencer Balensiefer - 10 years ago

      That’s funny, Joel, cause “We the People “have no patience for Oblama.

  2. Mauricio Herrera - 10 years ago

    Obama’s comparison to an apple launch rings true. Similar to apple and many other large product launches, glitches were undoubtedly considered. As with many launches, there will be issues. No product release has ever gone smoothly, and the criticism of the website glitch is simply people with misplaced anger about the Obamacare policy itself.

  3. James Hays (@james_hays) - 10 years ago

    A botched Apple product launch NEVER added an 80% premium to a service I already had that will be charged each month for the rest of my life.

    And yes, I got the estimated rate increase from my insurance this morning. 82% is the magical rate increase.

    Find a new country you free loading bastards.

    • medschoolgunner - 10 years ago

      You do realize that those “free loading bastards” are now required to buy health insurance, thus the more of them who “find a new country” means there will be fewer people paying for health insurance resulting in even higher premiums, right?

  4. techunsupport - 10 years ago

    I have no problem if the president want to compare the whitehouse to Apple, but that said Apple is a corporation. And the people running it have the obligation to maximize profit to the shareholders. And they have to listen to their shareholders. Well, if you want to put the whitehouse into the corp comparison, then I suppose the American citizens are the share holders. The benefitiary of anything the whitehouse does need to be for the citizens, which for decades we haven’t seen. Last I notice, especially in California, the tax payers are paying for the benefits to many people who aren’t tax payers.

  5. madgamer7 - 10 years ago

    Is.. is that Huell from Breaking Bad behind him? :P

  6. And no one makes you buy an Apple product, unlike this new health insurance. Or make you pay a penalty if you don’t buy it. Slight difference, Mr. President.

  7. Blue Mark (@BlueMarkOhio) - 10 years ago

    James wrote: “A botched Apple product launch NEVER added an 80% premium to a service I already had that will be charged each month for the rest of my life.”

    Which makes no sense. Since he has insurance he doesn’t need to buy insurance on the exchanges. Keep his present insurance at the present price.

    I ran my numbers, and I’ll save $225 every month for the same coverage. It isn’t cheap (I’m over 50 and have disabilities), but I won’t be paying 25% of my gross income on health insurance anymore.

  8. Drew (@Drew_2018) - 10 years ago

    I will take Apple care over obamacare any day.

  9. NQZ (@surgesoda) - 10 years ago

    What a ridiculous analogy…How do these guys come up with this stuff? You couldn’t fail harder even if you tried…

  10. Davis Hunt - 10 years ago

    Ah, but we buy Apple products because we choose to do so. Obama’s healthcare is being forced on everyone (with the exception of congress, the supreme court, and others who were able to coerce exclusions). That’s the difference – not whether the software has glitches.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.