Then yesterday, as I was driving home, I flipped on NPR and Fresh Air was one with Terri Gross. She was interviewing T.R. Reid about his new book “The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care” and what he discovered about healthcare in other countries.

I particularly enjoyed how he walked through the four major types of healthcare currently used around the globe: Beveridge, Bismarck, National Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket (details here) and then related to what his experience was living and using the health services. It’s one thing to talk about the concept and it’s another to have experienced it.

However, what blew me away was that we have all four healthcare models at work here in the US.

If you’re Native American, or a Veteran, you live in Britain. They get government healthcare from government hospitals with government doctors and they never get a bill.

If you’re an employed person sharing your health insurance premium with your employer you live in Germany. That’s the Bismarck model that was invented in Germany and used in many countries.

If you’re a senior and you buy medicare insurance from the government and go to private doctors, you live in Canada. That’s the Canadian model. As a matter of fact the Canadian healthcare system is called Medicare and when Lyndon Johnson provided it for our seniors in 1965 he borrowed both the model and the name from Canada.

And if you’re one of the 10′s of millions of Americans who can’t get health insurance, well you live in Malawi, or Madagascar, Somali or something. If you can pay for health insurance you can get it, or maybe you can line up at a free hospital sometime.

We’ve got ‘em all and that’s really the most important difference. All the other countries have decided it’s cheaper and fairer to provide one model so that everybody has the same access to the same care at the same price.

So with everyone up in arms about “socialized medicine“, I find it interesting that however you define this made up word, we’re already engaged in it.

You can listen to the entire interview below, or go it directly at this link.

In case you’ve missed an episode, here’s the list of shows thus far:

• Episode 1: Podcasts
• Episode 2: Firewalls
• Episode 3: Treo 700w
• Episode 4: Apple iPods
• Episode 5: Weblogs

The most challenging aspect of doing the podcast hasn’t been creating the content, or producing the show, but the marketing of it. I’ve done plenty of marketing in my day, but Simply Digital presents an interesting challenge. The target audience is the non-geek, or the average joe. If you’re reading this blog, then you’re a step above average. So how to you reach an audience that isn’t found in the usual geek hangouts?

I’m still trying to figure that out, so if you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. In the meantime, please check out the show, subscribe if you like it and fell free to click on a Google Ad or two.

FYI, I’m posting the new episodes every Wednesday, so if you’ve subscribed already, that’s when you can expect to find a new one.

The Computer Outlook Radio Show has posted the most recent “Palm Lifestyles” show that we did last week. Our guest was Bryan Nystrom from Natara Sofware

If you missed the live airing, you can download the podcast a this link and you can find the show notes at this link.

About Bryan Nystrom
Bryan is the Chief Technical Officer and one of the founders of Natara Software. Founded in 1998, Natara’s first product was Project@Hand, which enabled Microsoft Project users to take their project files “to go”.

Since their first product, Natara have released a bevy of top notch software that clearly illustrate their their development philosphy “Handhelds are an extension to the desktop, not a replacement.” — Bonsai4, DayNotez and Comet, just to name a few. Once you’ve sample one of Natara’s applications, you’ll quickly see why they’ve become one of the premier Palm OS developers in the mobile space today.

Recently, Natara just released a new application, Quanto, an application that helps you see where your time is really going. Not only that, but the Natara boys have also begun their foray into the PocketPC side of the mobile landscape with the release of DayNotez for PPC.

The first episode is on “podcasts”, which at first glance may seem a bit redundant to talk about podcasts IN a podcast. However, since Simply Digital is a podcast, what better way to kick things off than by breaking down this new technology?

All the details, including show notes, for Episode 1 can be found at this link. We’ve included an embedded player, so you can even listen to the podcast directly from the site. If you prefer a dedicated “podcatcher“, you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, Odeo, Google, or your Podcatcher of choice via standard RSS.

This is our first episode, but I’d still love to get any feedback you may have. Constructive criticism is always a good thing, so if you have some thoughts on the show, positive or negative, I’d love to hear them.

Tonight I’ll be co-hosting the Computer Outlook Radio Show for their monthly “Palm Lifestyles” show. Our guest will be none other than Palm OS Legend Kenny West. The show airs live at 7pm CST/CDT on AM radio stations around the US.

If you’re like me and don’t live in an area where the show is broadcast, you can listen live via the Internet at this link. Simply choose your preferred stream and you should be good to go. If you miss the live broadcast, there will be a podcast available in a few days and I’ll make a new post when it becomes available.

About Kenny West
Kenny West first rose to the attention of Palm Users when he started PalmGear, the first online Palm OS e-tailer. From it’s humble beginnings, to the juggernaut it has become, Kenny created the premier online retailer for Palm OS software. To this day, PalmGear is the market leader for mobile software.

Earlier this year, Kenny left PalmGear to take the helm of Get Mobile Solutions which, through a partnership with GoTreoSoftware, has breathed new life into the very popular launcher application LauncherX — which has users VERY excited.

In addition to LauncherX, Get Mobile Solutions has a bevy of other Treo utilities that enable users to maximize and harness the power in their Palm OS devices. Applications include VolumeCare Pro, PowerLink, and ProfileCare, just to name a few.

So if you’re interested the history of the Palm OS space, where it’s at now, or it’s future lies, be sure to tune into tonight’s episode.

The podcast from June 21^st with Blue Nomad’s founder Alexis Hinds has been posted on the Computer Outlook web site.

I’ve been a big fan of just about every one of Blue Nomad’s products, such as WordSmith and BackupBuddy. Alexis was a great guest and blended technical skills with plain talk that made it easy to learn what each of her products do. I was really surprised at how BackupBuddy.net worked — especially the trickle backup feature.

You can download the podcast at this link. Show notes can be found at this link.

Last Thursday, I co-hosted the Computer Outlook radio show. Our guests were Steve Sinclair, Treo 700p Sr. Product Manager, with Palm and John Chaffee, with Six Apart.

Steve of course talked about the recently released Treo 700p, going through all the details of this new smartphone (which I want REALLY bad). John got us up to speed on what’s been happening with SplashBlog since selling it to Six Apart and starting as their specialist in mobile solutions.

Show notes for this episode can be found at this link, and the .mp3 file can be found at this link.

A week ago, last Thursday, I co-hosted the Computer Outlook radio show. Our guests were Chris Belvins of Intel and Noel Grover, President of VoiceIt Technologies.

Chris talked about the Treo 700w and how it’s powered by an Intel chip, which was news to me. If you ask me, Intel is everywhere these days. Noel discussed his company, VoiceIT Technologies, and their line of products – VoiceNavIt, VoiceSecureIt and VoiceDialIt. What I found interesting is that not only do they have a nice suite of voice enabled mobile software, but they are also a platform in which other developers can build on.

Show notes for this episode can be found at this link, and the .mp3 file can be found at this link.

Update: The show is not tonight, it’s NEXT Wednesday, the 19th. Doh!

Tonight I’ll be co-hosting the Computer Outlook Radio Show for their monthly “Palm Lifestyles” show. Our guest will be Noel Grover, President of VoiceIt Technologies. The show airs live at 7pm CST/CDT on AM radio stations around the US.

If you’re like me and don’t live in an area where the show is broadcast, you can listen live via the Internet at this link. Simply choose your preferred stream and you should be good to go. If you miss the live broadcast, there will be a podcast available in a few days and I’ll make a new post when it becomes available.

About VoiceIT Technologies
VoiceIt Technologies (formerly Grover Industries, Inc.) is a world-class technology solutions provider that specializes in core technologies that harness the power of voice biometrics and voice navigation, enabling third party publishers the ability to develop enterprise and end-consumer solutions.

We’ll be focusing on their Palm OS products, such as VoiceNavIt, VoiceSecureIt and VoiceDialIt.

So if you’re interested where the future of voice input on Palm OS devices is heading, be sure to tune in to tonight’s episode.

Last Thursday, I co-hosted the Computer Outlook radio show. Our guests were Toshi Hokari of Altec Lansing and Keith Barraclough, the CEO of Avvenu.

Toshi talked about the new speaker systems that Altec Lansing has released for the Treo, iPod and laptop. I’d love to get my hands on a pair, but everyone says that these things sound great.

Keith discussed the free remote access system Avvenu. Avvenu allows you to access the data on your PC using any browser. Since it uses a web browser and not a special application, you can access your data from a connected mobile device, such as a Treo. I installed it during the show and I have to say, it’s pretty sweet.

Show notes for this episode can be found at this link, and the .mp3 file can be found at this link.

Last Thursday, I co-hosted the Computer Outlook radio show. Our guest was Michael Rothestein of Landware. Michael is a Technical Specialist, so he was intimately familiar with all of Landware’s software and he had a lot of good tips and interesting information.

In case you haven’t heard of Landware before, here’s a little background. Landware has been around longer than Palm OS. They were founded in 1994 and were originally software developers for the Apple Newton. Since then, they’ve become one of the premier Palm OS software developers, known for such titles as Pocket Quicken, Leonard Maltin Movie Guide, and Wine Enthusiast Guide, among others. All told, Landware has over 35 products for Palm OS, Pocket PC and Newton.

Show notes for this episode can be found at this link, and the .mp3 file can be found at this link.

If you haven’t downloaded it already, the mp3 archive/podcast for December 15^th‘s Computer Outlook radio show has been posted. You can find it at this URL. For December’s show, we interviewed Scott MacHaffie who wrote the book “Palm and Treo Hacks : Tips & Tools for Mastering Your Handheld“, which is an excellent book. I highly recommend it.

I hope to write a full review of the book at NPUG, but until then I can sum up the book thusly – it’s like having a Palm User Group in your hand. Every tip, or trick that we’ve ever given at the Nashville PUG meeting is covered in this book and more.

I thought the show was pretty good, but allow me apologize in advance for talking all over John’s attempt to go to break. With the new conferencing system he’s using, it’s VERY hard to hear him due to an abundance of slap back echo. If I were to stop every time I heard something odd, I’d never get more than three words out at a time, because I would be pausing to see if what I was hearing was me, or someone else speaking. It’s very frustrating and it was because of this slap back issue that I didn’t hear John trying to interrupt me to go to break. Sorry about that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the interview and you can find the show notes at this link.

Tonight’s guest will be Scott MacHaffie, the author of Palm and Treo Hacks, on the Computer Outlook radio program. The show airs live at 7pm CST/CDT in the Las Vegas area.

If you’re like me and don’t live in that area, you can listen live via the Internet at this link. Simply choose your preferred stream and you should be good to go. If you miss the live broadcast, there will be a podcast available at a later date.

The archive of the interview I did with Michael Mace for the Computer Outlook Radio Show has been posted at this link. I have to say that not only was it an honor to interview Mr. Mace again, it was also one of the best shows we’ve ever done. Really good stuff!

If you’d like to see the show notes for this show, you can find them at this link.

Tonight’s guest will be none other than the former Chief Competitive Officer, Michael Mace on the Computer Outlook radio program. The show airs live at 7pm CST/CDT and those of us not in the Las Vegas area can listen live via the Internet at this link. simply choose your prefered stream and you should be good to go. If you miss the live broadcast, there will be a podcast available at a later date.

You may recall that Michael Mace gave the closing keynote at the 2005 PalmSource Developers Conference, which drew record numbers for a closing keynote. His presentation was rich with information and insight into what the future may hold for the mobile landscape, which Palm OS has a large vested intrest in. Shortly after the conference, PalmSource had a huge layoff and Mace was one of the casualities. A month or so later and PalmSource was purchased by Access. Suffice to say that it’s been a crazy couple of months since the Dev Con.

Tonight we’ll be catching up with Michael Mace, finding out what a wild ride it’s been since the DevCon, what he’s been up to since then and what he’s working on in the near future. There will be plenty of great conversation, because no one has his pulse on the mobile space like Mace.

About Michael Mace
Michael Mace is currently a consultant and writer for the blogs Mobile Opportunity and Map The Future, in addition to currently working on a book on business strategy. Previously, Michael served as the Chief Competitive Officer and Vice President at PalmSource and earlier as Palm. Prior to joining Palm, he served as Vice President of Marketing for Softbook Press, a leader in the creation of ebook devices and publishing systems; and Director of Worldwide Marketing for Silicon Graphics’ Windows products division, which produced the company’s first Intel processor-based products. Michael has also held a variety of leadership positions at Apple, including Director of Mac Platform Marketing and Director of Marketing for the Home and Education Division. He also founded Century Software, which produced the world’s first downloadable PostScript type fonts, and has worked as a journalist. Michael holds a degree in international relations from UCLA.

About Computer Outlook
Computer Outlook is a daily technology radio program which broadcasts live out of Las Vegas. They have approximately 30 affiliates nation-wide as well as a very large Internet based audience as well. Computer Outlook covers the gambit when it comes to technology. Each show focuses on one particular avenue of technology, such as Linux, Wireless and Palm Handhelds, just to name a few.

John Iasiuolo, the show host, has a varied background in the business world, including a successful career in the entertainment industry. He has recognized a need for computer education targeting both home and business users?no techno-babble! Using this concept, John asks the questions we would all like answered.

I’m the co-host of the “Palm Handheld ‘Lifestyle’” monthly show, which airs live on the 3rd Thursday of every month.

“I told you guys about this didn’t I?”, I said in a somewhat pleading manner. I mean these were some of my closest friends and I would have shared something like this with them right? In a half-laugh, Ken Harelson said, “No, I think I would have remembered that!” No one was mad or anything, but it made me feel a little bit silly. You’d think I’d share something like this with my friends. I searched this weblog and I did find that I made a small mention of it here and here, but I’ve never really shared the whole story, so here it is.

It all started back in September. I received a voice mail message one day from a person by the name of John Iasiuolo stating that he was the host of a radio show called “Computer Outlook“. He said that his show was going to a daily weekday format and that they were expanding their program to include Palm OS as a feature topic and would I be interested in co-hosting? Asking me to talk is like asking a Senator if he wants one more term! Of course I’d like to!

In all of my excitement, I accidentally erased the message instead of saving it. I frantically attempted to retrieve it, but there was not such option on my voice mail. Thankfully Google came to my rescue and not only found me their web site, but a contact number! I quickly dialed the number and I must have sounded like someone who ran in from the rain when John answered the phone. I explained who I was and confirmed that they were indeed interested in having me co-host. Woo hoo!

John went into a lot more detail explaining the fact that now that the radio program was a daily weekday show, they had a great deal more freedom in creating “feature” shows. Specifically, what they wanted to do was make the 3rd Thursday of each month a show about Palm OS and the “Handheld Lifestyle” They had found me through InterPUG and thought that I would make for a knowledgeable person to co-host the show. The show is broadcast out of Las Vegas, but they said that I could easily participate via telephone, so it didn’t mean any travel or crazy schedule in order to participate.

I of course jumped at the opportunity, but I kind of kept it under my hat because I wasn’t sure how it would pan out. I wasn’t familiar with the show and they didn’t know if I would be any good. Heck, I didn’t know if I would be any good. I’ve never done a radio program, so I had no idea if I’d be any good. I thought I might do OK, but I could just see me putting my foot in my mouth, accidentally cursing, or something equally stupid. Since the show is broadcast live, I could just see me being shown the door after getting all excited about a new product and blurting out, “Oh man, that is the sh*t!” before me my brain could stop my mouth.

The show is done in a talk radio format, so it’s very laid back and conversational. This made it fairly easy for me to slide right in for my first show. Luckily, I had no trouble keeping my mouth in check and not putting my foot in it. By the end of the first show I was very excited and thankful that they’ve allowed me to stay on as co-host. It’s a blast!

Since my fist show back in September, I’ve been working hard to make the show better and better. Thanks to John, he’s given me a lot of leeway to try out my ideas and most of them have stuck. We’ve added a news segment, a deal of the month and brought in a lot of good guests. It almost feels like my own show, which is quite a statement to make. This is John’s baby and for him to allow me to run unfettered has not only made the experience fun, it’s made it a real education. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I’m trying to make the most of it.

So now every 3rd Thursday, at 7:00pm CST/CDT, you can catch me live on KLAV 1230AM out of Las Vegas, or via the Internet at this link. I’ll try and do a better job promoting it and letting you know what’s coming up in the future and I plan on posting show notes and archives of past shows.