Fans Worldwide Mourn Steve Jobs

Mac fans everywhere gathered online and at Apple stores offline last night, mourning the loss of Steve Jobs, reports the LA Times. There were flowers, memorabilia, and even a bagpipe player at the company headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., where the company flags flew at half-staff. At an Apple store in Pasadena, a person left a white rose and a red apple with "bye" carved into it. "Steve Jobs was one of the great inventors, certainly of our time," said the owner of a graphics design firm, adding that he came to the Santa Monica store "just to pay homage."

Fans gathered outside Apple stores all over the world, although sometimes the media outnumbered mourners, the Wall Street Journal notes. Even in Beijing, mourners placed flowers and photos of Jobs in front of the main Apple store. One fan at the Beijing store said he would buy an iPhone 4 in memory of Jobs. "It would mean 4 Steve," he said, adding, "this is truly the end of an era." At the Ginza Apple store in Tokyo, a man gave staff a bouquet of white lilies. "I of course love Apple products, but I really admired Steve Jobs," he said. "He thought of products appealing to everyone—men, women and children. It excited everyone." (More Apple stories.)