Apple rep on hand to collect award

Apple's late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs was posthumously honored with the President's Award at the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce at a banquet held over the weekend, the Palo Alto Patch reports. Apple spokesman Michael Foulkes was on hand to accept the award and was a bit choked up in thanking the chamber following a short tribute video that combined photos of Jobs with video of his last presentation to the City Council.

"Steve always hated awards, especially those about him, so I'm going to be very quick" Foulkes said, wiping away tears. He then spoke about how Jobs viewed technology as a "mental bicycle," meaning a simple tool that would enormously improve both how people lived and who they were. He added that Jobs held onto this philosophy, passed it on to all those within the company, and said he hoped it would last "for generations to come."

The Cupertino Chamber of Commerce gives an annual "Service Teamwork Achievement Recognition" (STAR) award to those in the community that show exceptional leadership or perform outstanding community service. The ceremony was held at the Cypress Hotel and was the 55th anniversary of the awards.

Perhaps inspired by the tribute video's scenes of Jobs speaking before the Cupertino City Council last summer about his plans for Apple's soon-to-be-built new campus, Foulkes told the attendees at the dinner -- including many of the city's most influential leaders and businesspeople -- that Jobs "designed this campus as a product," and said it would be "an engineering marvel ... that will rival any building on the planet, and it's something that Steve -- right till the end -- made sure would be a lasting legacy for Cupertino and Apple."

The tribute video and Foulkes' acceptance speech were captured on video by Patch reporters and are seen below. They are encoded in Flash from the source, so Flash is required to view them. [photos/videos via Crystal Tai/Palo Alto Patch]

by MacNN Staff