No, it’s not the next iteration of the iPhone, complete with a larger screen – it’s actually a memorial to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, unveiled this week in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
Standing at around 180cm, the iPhone-shaped stone sculpture features a touchscreen (of course), which visitors can use to select various photographs and videos of important moments in Jobs’ life. Speeches and presentations given by Jobs are shown with subtitles translated into a number of different languages.
On the back of the memorial is a QR code, which, if scanned, takes you to a website celebrating the life of the late Apple boss.
Located in the courtyard of the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, the monument was designed by local man Gleb Tarasov. The sculpture, which Tarasov has christened ‘Sunny QR Code’, was selected as the best design from more than 200 entries in a contest held by the Progress IT Fund.
Steve Jobs died in October 2011 after a long battle with cancer. The charismatic tech guru co-founded Apple in his parents’ garage back in 1976.
Regarded by many as a visionary and one of the most influential innovators of recent times, Steve Jobs’ place in history in assured. Several films about his life are set for launch this year, including jOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher, which premieres on the final day of the Sundance Film Festival on January 27.
The movie focuses on Jobs’ life from 1971 all the way through to 2000, covering Apple’s formative years, Jobs’ unceremonious exit from the company in the 1980s, his founding of NeXT and Pixar, and his triumphant return to the Cupertino tech giant in the mid-90s.
[Source: Daily Mail / RIA Novosti]