Outpouring for Jobs is more like farewell to friend than CEO
— -- Remembered more like a rock star than a corporate executive, Steve Jobs was mourned Thursday by millions of people around the world whose lives were touched by his brilliance in technology, innovation and marketing.
Consumers and admirers used Apple products that Jobs brought to the marketplace — iPhones, iPads and Macs — to pay tribute online to the Silicon Valley innovator who made technology and digital communication accessible, easy and fun for the average person.
Many were drawn to the nearest Apple store as a meeting place, or even a shrine, to share the sadness of his passing.
Jobs, 56, founder and former CEO of Apple, died Wednesday after a struggle with pancreatic cancer.
"Steve was obviously a visionary," said Jon Thompson, the owner of a technology support company, who visited an Apple store in West Des Moines. "He shaped our world in a way that I don't really see anyone else having shaped it."
John Carr, a Palm Desert, Calif., doctor who says he owns nearly every Apple product, stopped by his local Apple store to soothe his sense of loss.
"I just came here because I didn't know where else to go," said Carr, 50. "I'm shocked. I can't believe it. I never even met the man, but I feel like I own every gadget he's ever made."
Peter Uhlich, an Apple user and software executive from Germany, altered a business trip to fly from St. Louis to Northern California to pay his respects at Apple's Cupertino headquarters.
"He inspired me my whole business life," Uhlich said. "This is the last chance to talk to him. He was one of the biggest visionaries in computers."
Some brought candles and flowers to makeshift shrines. The comparison to an entertainment star who died too soon was unmistakable.
Mourners seemed unable to imagine another figure in business or technology evoking such deep emotion in so many people.
"To some people, this is like Elvis Presley or John Lennon. It's a change in our times. It's the end of an era," said San Francisco barber Scott Robbins, 34. "It's like the end of the innovators."
At Apple's flagship store in Tysons Corner, Va., which opened May 19, 2001, three bouquets of flowers had been placed near the entrance and three post-it notes on the glass read, "Rest in Peace Steve."
One card propped up against the wall said, "Steve, you changed my life, I love you."
"I am a big fan. He truly was a visionary," said Laureen Matte, 35, of Vienna, Va., visiting the store. "I'm very sad. I hope this doesn't slow down the technology push that he started."
Outside Apple headquarters, three flags — a U.S. flag, a California flag and an Apple flag — flew at half-staff. Flowers and notes were left in the sun outside Apple's Building No. 1.
Anirudh Chiva, a student at DeAnza College, brought flowers to a makeshift memorial at 1 Infinite Loop, Apple's address.
"He's inspired me a lot," Chiva said. "It's sad. He was only 56. … Who knows what he could have done, how he would have changed the world even more."
Pietro Dova of nearby Palo Alto took pictures of the flowers with his iPhone. "An icon has passed away, and there may not be another one like him in my lifetime," Dova said. "He knew how to develop complex products for the average person."
Tim Cook, Jobs' handpicked successor as CEO, sent an e-mail to Apple's workers, mourning the loss and saying the company will continue in his spirit.
"Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple," Cook wrote.
Google, Sony, Samsung, Microsoft — corporate giants that have all been bruised in dustups with Apple — put their rivalries aside to remember the man behind the iconic products that defined a generation: the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad.
"Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote.
Sony President and Chief Executive Howard Stringer issued a statement saying, "The digital age has lost its leading light, but Steve's innovation and creativity will inspire dreamers and thinkers for generations."
Contributing: Jefferson Graham in Palo Alto, Calif.; Regina Zilbermints, The Des MoinesRegister; Molly Tilghman in Tysons Corner, Va.; Carolyn Pesce in McLean, Va.
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