Steve Jobs honored by presidents, celebrities in Webby Award tribute
Actors Justin Long and John Hodgman, known for their roles as a Mac and PC in Apple's award-winning "Get a Mac" advertising campaign, introduced the tribute during the awards show, as noted by CNet.
Richard Dreyfuss, the actor who voiced the iconic "Crazy ones" commercial, honored Jobs with an enigmatic speech prior to the video. Interestingly enough, Dreyfuss began his remarks with a dig at Facebook and Google.
"Before we talk about Steve, I just want to say: Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Brin [sic] have you thought of the words quid pro quo? If you're going to take our privacy away from us, why don't you tell us something private about yourselves. And if you're going to change our world, why don't you pay for it, because it's theft," he said.
In keeping with the Webby Awards' tradition of limiting 'thank you's to five words, Dreyfuss concluded with a five-word phrase to describe Jobs: "Exception that proves the rule."
The award show then played a short video in honor of Jobs that featured politicians, entertainers and even young students.
Rock musician Bono, who was a personal friend of Jobs, thanked him for "saving lives" with the RED campaign. The U2 singer spoke out in defense of Jobs' philanthropic efforts last year, citing his "invaluable" contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS.
Filmmaker George Lucas thanked Jobs for "making technology into art," while former U.S. President Bill Clinton praised him for "spreading American ingenuity worldwide." Astronaut Buzz Aldrin credited Jobs "for exploring beyond our reach" and scientist Vint Cerf, often referred to as one of the "fathers of the Internet," thanked Jobs for "thinking different."
President Barack Obama said he only needed one word to describe Jobs: "amazing." Obama had previously honored Jobs during his State of the Union address in February.
Seth Myers, Arianna Huffington, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart also made appearances in the video.
Since his death last October, Jobs has been remembered in a number of ways. Apple itself held a company-wide memorial service last October. Meanwhile, a movie, a statue and a commercial airliner have all been dedicated to Jobs. The Apple co-founder was also awarded a posthumous grammy by The Recording Academy and a STAR award from the City of Cupertino.
Copyright: Szabolcs Dudás
18 Comments
That piece of sculpture is super-creepy.
Looks like Steve Jobs is throwing a gang sign up "westside!"
Richard Dreyfuss: American Graffiti Jaws Close Encounters and now this. Never realized just how under-appreciated this guy is.
Looks like Steve Jobs is throwing a gang sign up "westside!"
If you ask me, that sculpture is horrible. It looks like Steve is in awe of his unusually long fingers. Either that or he is looking at how thin his fingers are after he sanded them down to test a 7" tablet touchscreen.
I like the sculpture. Steve caught in the act of getting a point across, focussed, determined, insightful! (I would not want to have had Steve's finger pointing toward me though - no thanks!)
Also, good on you Richard Dreyfuss for your comments. (Although, a real-world Eric Brin would be both super smart and super... a quantum dilemma.)