Dr. Watson – Has IBM Created Its Own Nemesis?

Yes, there are times the smartest people become
overconfident and do the dumbest acts. And in some
cases that also can prove to be their
ultimate denouement.
In my younger days there were company names
that were darlings of Americans, newspapers
blaring about their heroics in corporate
wizardry every day.
And many of them are no longer in existence
because, in their glorified existence,they
turned against the very same Americans who
swooned over them before.
And without fail the worst offenders always encroached
on one aspect of life that Americans held so dear to
their hearts. Their health.
Such offenders were always pharmaceutical companies
trying to test ill-researched drugs on patients,
medical device makers peddling poorly-designed
implants or cigarette makers fooling unsuspecting
citizenry into burning their lungs.
Nobody ever considered a technological company playing tricks with their health
even in their wildest dreams. But that unthinkable has happened in the year 2011. Yes, a computer manufacturer
has finally invented a Frankenstein that can deny medical care to Americans.
I was always an admirer of IBM. In fact I was born in an era where IBM was USA
and USA was IBM. I got particularly inspired whenever I read about IBM’s
sacrifice of its patent rights on PCs so that the then nascent software
industry will come out of teething troubles and prosper.
And that even made a college-dropout one of the richest man in the world,
who is in turn expressing his gratitude by financing research and remedies for
global problems.
Yes, IBM’s sacrifice was a saintly act unlikely from a corporate entity that led
to massive development of Information Technology on this planet.
But this week that saintliness has turned to devilishness as Americans are
threatened that their already dwindling health benefits are going to be
curtailed more by a supercomputer made by IBM.
IBM cannot hide behind the impersonal facades of computers or the suits
of insurance industry top brass in its complicity if Americans decide that the
corporate stalwart was an accomplice in the denial of healthcare.
Insurance industry blundered right at the start of their foray into healthcare
as it was against all rules of actuarial science. No insurance can cover events
like illness that can happen regularly or frequently. Insurance companies make
money only in the rarity of an event under coverage. Still greed made them
forget their own science.
Unfortunately, IBM too has joined as a player in this continuing saga of errors
of judgment on the part of insurance industry.As an admirer of IBM, it is painful to admit that they have created a Frankenstein
that may even gobble up its own creator, IBM.
Can IBM withstand the wrath of Americans who find that their health rights are
denied?Time and again corporate leaders have underestimated the power of the people.
Americans loved their companies, not only as providers of jobs but also as
bastions of capitalism. But to use Dr. Watson to deny the health benefits of such loyal citizens was
and is an utter act of ingratitude.
That PCs are no longer a big business for the company is small comfort.
A seismic boycott of the PCs can magnify into a tsunami that can affect the whole
product mix.
Seated in the air-conditioned comfort of technology offices can make one dismiss
such statements as wishful thinking or rubbish. And cash-richness also can contribute to the overconfidence in dismissing
Americans and their dear lives as inconsequential.
I can understand a cash-strapped insurance company indulging in anti-people
activities verging on arrogance.But not from a company that spearheaded the technological movement of this planet.
Unfortunately, what cannot be changed has to be accepted. Because, people come first, not machines.
Health comes first, not corporate profits.
No company can exist in America for long at the expense of American lives.Goodbye, my fallen idol.