Steve Jobs could be first posthumously-named Person of the Year
It was announced on Wednesday that the late Jobs was nominated by "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams to be Time's 2011 Person of the Year, something that the magazine has never done, according to CBS News.
Williams led the annual panel debate in New York, along with Time's Managing Editor Rich Stengel who noted that the publication has "never actually chosen a dead person" as Person of the Year. Panelists included actor Jesse Eisenberg, Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers, lawyer and professor Anita Hill, lobbyist Grover Norquist, and chef Mario Batali.
"One guy, who changed our world, and I said to Seth Meyers as we walked across Sixth Avenue, 'Just look with me on this one block walk at how he changed the world around us. Look at how he changed the world,'" Williams said during his nomination speech. "'Oh the places you'll go' and oh the way you will change forever the music and television industries. So may he rest in peace, Steve Jobs, and the spirit he represents, are my nominee for Person of the Year."
Besides Jobs, notable nominees inlude U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, the late Tunisian fruit vendor credited for starting the Arab Spring Mohamed Bouazizi and lead organizer of the uprising in Cairo Esraa Abdel Fatah.
Much of the debate focused on whether a deceased individual should be given the distinction, with Eisenberg saying that doing so would be akin to the Oscars giving best director to someone who just died when they really deserved a lifetime achievement award.
However, it seemed Jobs was the leading contender in the debate as Batali and Norquist both agreed with Williams' nomination.
âThe smartphone has changed the world as much as the Bible has,â Batali said.
Jobs has been previously nominated for the honor, coming up short last year to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.
Time's Person of the Year will be revealed in December.
66 Comments
This lets them repackage and sell what they wrote about Jobs in October for a whole new edition at the end of the year. Does anyone think Jobs won't get this?
Batali's statement that the smartphone has changed the world as much as the Bible will get him some heat.
Man of the Year: Mohamed Bouazizi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_spring
Batali's statement that the smartphone has changed the world as much as the Bible will get him some heat.
"Death to infidels and blasphemers.
Sent from my iPhone"
"Death to infidels and blasphemers.
Sent from my iPhone"
I mean, this is America where people couldn't handle John Lennon saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus and he thought that was a bad thing. I think it's just plain dumb to say considering all the wars that have been fought for religion, when the strongest war you have in smartphones is iOS vs Android heh.