The Live Indian Entertainment Blog

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 55, who had a liver transplant last year in Tennessee, made a surprise visit to Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital on Friday to promote a new legislative effort to expand the number of California organ donors.

While Steve Jobs described how his life was saved by the liver transplant, and said that patients with less wealth and fame should have the same opportunities, it's clear that can never be the case. Jobs' doctors advised him to enroll in a transplant program in Memphis, TN, where the supply-demand ratio of livers is more favorable than it is in California.

Methodist Hospital in Memphis said Jobs did not receive favoritism, but rather received his transplant because he was the sickest patient on the wait list, with a matching blood type, when a donor organ became available. However, only someone with Jobs' wealth and a private jet could make the cross-country trip to Memphis in four hours, the window necessary for the organ to remain viable. Alternatively, they would have to wait in a nearby home or hotel, which also means abandoning one's life and perhaps job, as well as money for the rental.

That said, the new legislation is designed to increase the number of donors in-state. 98 percent of the organs donated in California come via the DMV. The rest come from the online donor registry. However, of the 26 million drivers in the state, only 6.3 million have signed to be organ and tissue donors. This is among the lowest rates in the nation.

Those fearing the new bill should remain calm: the new bill would not require applicants for a driver's license in California to agree to donation. Rather, it would simply require that they answer the question of whether or not they will agree. Currently, the DMV issues a license regardless of whether the applicant answers that question.

The bill would also create a "California Living Donor Registry." That would connect sick patients with altruistic strangers who are willing to donate a kidney. According to Stanford physicians, kidney donation is relatively safe and does not shorten a donor's life span.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger thanked Jobs for his efforts. Steve Jobs is known to be a very private person. He had not spoken publicly regarding his transplant before this event. Schwarzenegger said:

"Steve Jobs was very instrumental in getting us here today. He put the pressure on us to get this bill going."

The governor also added details on how this all came to pass, when Steve Jobs spoke to Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver last Christmas, and ...

"talked to my wife about his transplant and then my wife talked to me about it, and I talked to him about it, and we had these great phone conversations back and forth and now here it is reality — we are introducing the bill.

"What I like about Steve is, because he is a wealthy man that helped him get the transplant. But he doesn't want that — that only wealthy people can get the transplant and have a plane waiting to take him anywhere he needs to go.

"He wants every human being, if you have no money at all or if you're the richest person in the world, everyone ought to have the right to get a transplant immediately."

That sentiment should be applauded but as noted above, it simply won't be possible: the wealthy will always have better access.

The wealthy will also always have the capability of paying for such a transplant. The United States still is the only industrialized nation without Universal Health Care, and the results of that lack are evident statistically: compare UNICEF's statistics for the U.S. vs. Cuba, which is a third-world country yet has universal health care, to be unpleasantly surprised. Additionally, add in Canada, which prior to instituting its own Universal Health Care system was statistically similar to the U.S.:

Under 5 mortality rate (2008): U.S. 8, Cuba 6, Canada 6
Life expectancy at birth (years), 2008: U.S. 79, Cuba 79, Canada 81

For those concerned about deficits: how much would you be willing to spend to an extra two years of life? How many extra taxes would you be willing to pay to ensure a safety net where you would not go bankrupt because of unexpected medical costs, which causes the most bankruptcies in the U.S. every year?

You can watch video of the press event here.

There's still no content available, but manufacturers have started a 3DTV launch blitz that will make your head spin. They are counting on the popularity of 3D movies like "Avatar" to make a 3DTV the next must-have hardware for the home. Samsung, LG, Sony, and Panasonic are the top four TV manufacturers.

Samsung on Tuesday introduced its line of 3DTVs at an event in New York. Samsung will offer 3D in LED, conventional fluorescent-backlit LCD, and plasma TV sets. The least expensive Samsung 3D TV is a 46-inch LCD, due out in May for about $1,700.

Samsung's plasma line includes six 3D sets starting with a 50-inch set at about $1,800, up to a 63-inch set at $3,800, all available in May. Meanwhile, Samsung's LED line includes 46-inch and 55-inch 3D versions due this month at $2,600 and $3,200, respectively. There is also a 40-inch priced at about $2,000 due out in May. At the top is a new higher-end line with a 55-inch model for nearly $7,000.

Sony, on the other hand, expects to sell 2.5 million 3DTVs this fiscal year (ending March 2011). Sony anticipates selling 25 million TV sets, with 10 percent of them 3D. That is pretty optimistic when there is still a dearth of 3D content.

Panasonic said it's planning to introduce 3D TVs at Best Buy, starting Wednesday of this week for only $2,500, about half the price they're available for in Japan. Why the favoritism? It's part of a strategy so that Panasonic can hit its target of 1 million 3DTVs (worldwide) sold in 2010.

Manufacturers have better hope the recession is truly over. There are many obstacles to adoption, including the glasses that must be worn to view 3D content. Many simply feel the glasses are too much of a pain.

There's also the fact that this is the first "round" of 3DTVs. There is an old adage that you should never buy the first revision of any product.

Additionally, quite a few consumers just moved up to HDTVs, and would be hard-pressed to justify another purchase for a brand-new technology.

Finally, there is the lack of content. Until June, when ESPN launches ESPN 3-D, there won't be much on TV. That network will showcase at least 85 live sporting events during its first year. That still seems a rather sparse mix, content-wise, if one doesn't need to upgrade their set. ESPN 3-D's first broadcast scheduled to be the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match on June 11th, between South Africa and Mexico.

As you probably know, Apple is purging apps that are somewhat racy from the App Store, including those, according to a developer, that include women in bikinis. Yet the Sports Illustrated app is still in the App Store, and as I said earlier, I smelled favoritism.

Phil Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing at Apple, pretty much confirmed that in statements he made to the New York Times. He said:

“The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format."

Ah, I see. By the way, the Playboy app is still in the App Store as well.

While there is obviously some measure of truth to that statement, some of the apps, such as Wobble (demo below), which have a sort of racy component to them, but don't even specifically provide racy photos in them. Strangely, also, new apps continue to be approved that should be banned, such as Adult Sex Trick, which appears to have been updated just today or yesterday.

At the same time, as far as why they made this change, Schiller said:

“It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see.”

OK, so they are not so upset with Playboy or SI, I suppose.

At any rate, it's not as though iTunes itself doesn't have plenty of racy material among its videos or even its music. Mobile Safari is able to access plenty of stuff on the web, as well, though famously, not Flash.

Watch a Wobble demo below, of the now rejected app: