A giant iPhone, the only in Russia monument to the founder of Apple, has been sent to the repair shop on October 31, 2014. This statue, resembling a legendary piece of electronics was placed in the yard of ITMO University on Vasilevsky Island of St. Petersburg in memory of Steve Jobs on 9th of January 2013.

The ZEFS Company, which once has installed it, has removed the monument on 31 October 2014 in order perform maintenance.

The iPhone-shaped interactive monument presented information about Steve Jobs - the former head of Apple Company and acted as WiFi router and camera. The sculpture was supposed to be able to withstand Russian winters when temperatures drop down to minus 30 degrees Celsius. However, the huge touch screen started to peel about 6 months ago, causing the structure to malfunction. According to the students of ITMO University, the monument operated just as WiFi router. Its media functions were not available for about half a year.

Because of statue’s malfunction, Russian group of companies called West European Financial Union (ZEFS), which initially put up the 6ft-high statue, requested that ITMO University provided the structure for repairs. In the official letter, the company notified ITMO University about their intensions to fix the monument and return it back.

"We plan to reinstall the monument again after repairs and hope next time it will function without failures. It is obvious that operating in conditions of St. Petersburg cold and humid climate require regular service for such complex equipment" – the rector of ITMO University Vladimir Vasiliev commented.

 

Maintenance is the only reason known to ITMO University officials for ZEFS Company to dismantle the monument placed on the University Technology Park premises almost two years ago.

Today the ITMO University Technology Park includes more than 30 companies, most of them - high-tech sector companies working in the field of IT and optics. Technology Park residents participate in scientific, business and education projects, commercializing ITMO University scientific developments.

PR Department
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