Steve Jobs nominated to be Time's Person of the Year

CNET reports that Steve Jobs has been nominated to be Time's Person of the Year for 2011. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams nominated Apple's founder and former CEO for the honor after citing the tremendous influence Jobs had in shaping the modern world.

If Jobs is selected, he would be the first posthumous Person of the Year. Other notable tech figures who have been granted the honor over the past few decades include Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg in 2010, Amazon's Jeff Bezos in 1999, the computer itself in 1982, and "you" in 2006. According to Walter Isaacson's biography, at age 27 Steve Jobs believed he would be Time's Person of the Year in 1982, and he was dismayed when "the computer" was selected instead.

Most other nominations for 2011's Person of the Year are for movements rather than individuals. "Populists" are one such nomination, with notable examples including participants in the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Tea Party movements. A strikingly similar nomination for "angry people" covers much of the same ground. Another individual nominated is Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation in Tunisia inspired the Arab Spring movement (another nominee who, if selected, would be the first posthumous honoree). US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has also been nominated.