Steve Jobs a perfect choice for California’s $1 innovation coin

Steve Jobs will be the face of California innovation on a $1 coin next year, and it’s hard to think of a better choice. The co-founder of Apple and longtime Palo Alto resident, who died in 2011, made an overwhelming impact on how we live today — from personal computers and smartphones to streaming music and “Toy Story.”

But don’t take my word for it. Jobs was nominated by Gov. Gavin Newsom, and DeeDee Myers — director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) — gave a presentation to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee on why the Silicon Valley icon was the right pick on Feb. 18.

“Innovation is woven into every fiber of California, but our state’s specific brand of innovation is the perfect embodiment of Steve Jobs,” Myers told the committee. “Steve’s legacy can’t be summed up with just one product or one company. He goes well beyond that. He was an expansive man with an expansive mind who wasn’t confined to just science and technology. His greatest contributions came from his ability to integrate art and humanity and design into that technology.”

The committee considered six potential designs for the coin, which will be part of the U.S. Mint’s American Innovation series, to recommend to the U.S. treasury secretary.

The designed preferred by the governor’s office and Jobs’ family pictured a younger Jobs sitting cross-legged amid a California landscape with oak trees and rolling hills, along with the inscription “Make Something Wonderful.” Myers said that image better conveyed Jobs’ love of California nature, which was an important part of who he was. Other designs incorporated Jobs’ image with circuit designs and keyboards and one just featured his name with a tree growing circuit-like branches.

But the committee opted to recommend a design with a more familiar image of Jobs — older and wearing glasses and his trademark black turtleneck. The design — which isn’t final and could be altered before the coin is minted in 2026 — is fittingly simple and elegant.

Art Bernstein, the former executive director of San Jose law firm Hopkins & Carley who sits on the committee, said he preferred the more iconic image, despite the governor’s recommendation.

“This is the Steve Jobs that we saw introducing so many wonderful products to the public,” said Bernstein, who lives in Los Altos Hills but once lived across the street from the Jobs house in Palo Alto.

VROOM VROOM: For several years now, the theme of the Silicon Valley Auto Show has been “The Future of Drive,” but this weekend’s show at the Santa Clara Convention Center may really live up to that.

Amid the Porches, Teslas, Toyotas and Volkswagens, you can bet that the flying car from San Mateo-based manufacturer Alef will stand out from the crowd. Alef’s Model A — which is designed to drive on streets like other cars but take off vertically and fly above traffic when needed — will be on display at the show, which runs Friday though Sunday.