Steve Jobs Death: Apple Releases 'Celebration of Steve's Life' Video on Website
Apple Inc. shut down its retail stores worldwide on Oct. 19 for a special tribute to Steve Jobs that was filmed live at the company's main campus in Cupertino, Calif. The event, which took place two weeks after Jobs' death, was also attended by the late Apple co-founder's wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, whom was credited with giving her late husband strength.
The outdoor event was hosted by Apple CEO Tim Cook and the video of the memorial runs for about 80 minutes. The video, titled "A Celebration of Steve's Life," was published on Apple's website Monday around noon EST.
In his introduction of Jobs' wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, Cook said she "not only brought Steve great strength," but those at Apple as well. Laurene sat behind Cook on an elevated stage along with people presumably in the upper echelon of the company.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Cook, speaking at a podium before a packed crowd of Apple employees at an outdoor amphitheater, said:
"As I have, and I know that many of you have...you've been spending a lot time mourning Steve's passing. the last two week s for me have been the saddest of my life by far. But I know Steve. Steve would have wanted this cloud to lift for Apple, and our focus to return to the work he loved so much. So it's with that spirit that we wanted to the entire company together today to celebrate Steve's extraordinary life and the many accomplishments he had across his life."
Cook described Jobs as having "the curiosity of a child and the mind of a genius."
The Apple CEO went on to describe Jobs as "a non-conformist, an original the greatest CEO ever, the best innovator of all time, and the ultimate entrepreneur," while images of Jobs played on huge screens unfurled along the face of the campus' buildings.
Cook added, "For those of us who knew and loved him, none of these words adequately define who Steve was. ... He leaves us with what he did, what he said, and what he stood for. He did some amazing things..."
The Apple CEO went on to list some of Jobs' innovation in the personal computer and music market, naming the Macintosh computer, the iPod, iTunes and the iPhone as some of his accomplishments. Cook also noted Jobs' work at movie animation studio Pixar.
Of Jobs' work on the iPad, Cook said, "With the introduction of the iPad, Apple jump-started an entirely new product category that no one thought they needed and now no one can live without."
Cook also shared some "truly profound things" Jobs said that served as a "a guiding light" for the company:
- "Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains."
- "Technology alone is not enough. It's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing."
- "If you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should just do something else wonderfully, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next."
- "My model for business is the Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That's how I see business. Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people."
Former Vice President Al Gore also made statements regarding Jobs' accomplishments during the Oct. 19 memorial, commenting on Jobs' love for his work. Cook revealed that Jobs had personally asked Gore to serve on Apple's board of directors in 2003.
The entire video is available for viewing on Apple's website.
Jobs died on Oct. 5 at age 56.
The live Apple event was made available to the public the same day Walter Isaacson's revealing biography on Jobs, entitled Steve Jobs, became available to the public.
