Remarkable and Expected. At the Same Time

I 'm talking about the iPad. But not in the way you think.

Yes, from what I'm hearing it's a remarkable innovation (I ordered the 3G version, so I won't get my own grubby hands on one until later this month). And yes, with Apple products remarkable is expected. But this observation isn't about the device, it's about a matter-of-fact comment made by a gentleman named Derek Hoffman in a USA Today article about the iPad.

"I'm holding out for the next version so Apple can work out all the problems," Hoffman said. "The second generation model will be faster, better and cheaper."

Most people who read that probably won't think twice about it. We all know it's true. But that's what's so remarkable. We all know it's true.The next generation iPad (and all of the next generation e-readers, laptops, cell phones, etc.) will be faster, better and cheaper. That's the glory of the free market, the blessing of the invisible hand and the fruit of an economic system that fosters competition, rewards innovation, and lets the individual decisions made by millions of individuals guide the evolution of industries to better meet their needs. We're all better off for it.

Reading Hoffman's quip, I couldn't help but be reminded of our national healthcare debate. Market forces have been so good to us when it comes to consumer electronics and every other product and service category; they would be good to us in healthcare as well, if we took off the regulatory and tax policy shackles that have woven their way in, around and through the industry over the past several decades. But we seem to be going the opposite way.

The marketplace is a giant ocean; its force is like water. It will find its own way, no matter how we attempt to divert or control it. The fact that we continue to try is, I suppose, expected. How remarkable things could be if we just let go.

Steve McKee is president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland and author of When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You're Stuck, and What to Do About It . Find him on Twitter and LinkedIn.