Apple staff mourn as Steve Jobs honored

Steve Jobs was honored online and off Wednesday as tributes poured into a memorial website set up by Apple for its late co-founder and shops closed temporarily for workers to mourn his loss. Doors were locked and curtains drawn at Apple Stores to allow employees in retail stores to tune into a private ceremony being held in an amphitheater at the company's headquarters in the northern California city of Cupertino. Meanwhile, the world was given an online outlet for its grief at a "Remembering Steve" website at apple.com/stevejobs/. "Over a million people from all over the world have shared their memories, thoughts, and feelings about Steve," a message at the website said. "One thing they all have in common -- from personal friends to colleagues to owners of Apple products -- is how they've been touched by his passion and creativity." Comments and condolences received at a rememberingsteve@apple.com email address streamed onto the web page. "I am 17, and growing up watching every keynote presentation by the man in the black turtleneck was foundational to me," one message read. "His vision has done the better part of defining the Millennial (generation's) lifestyle, and I'm proud to say I am heavily influenced by Apple," the teenager added. "Everything about the company has inspired my philosophy on technology, and guaranteed Steve Jobs's methods will continue to be a driving force for me until, and beyond the day when I start my first company." Celebrities and Silicon Valley nobility paid tribute to the revered Apple co-founder on Sunday at a private memorial service held under tight security at Stanford University. The list of those invited to the memorial for Jobs -- who died on October 5 from cancer at the age of 56 -- included former US president Bill Clinton along with film and music stars, and founders of top Internet firms. Employees from Apple satellite offices streamed to the main campus on Wednesday to honor the man who altered modern life with iPhones, iPods, iPads, and Macintosh computers. Apple stores in northern California closed doors and blocked windows from prying eyes to allow retail employees to tune into webcasts of the private memorial, which started at 10:00 am (1700 GMT). Signs on stores told customers shops would re-open at noon. The Internet buzzed with word of similar scenes taking place at other Apple stores in the United States. At the Apple Store in Georgetown, in the US capital of Washington, white curtains were drawn to prevent onlookers from seeing inside. A white sign stated the shop would be closed for three hours, with no explanation why. An employee of the Apple flagship store on the prestigious Fifth Avenue in New York told AFP that all Apple stores in the United States would be closed on Wednesday to allow employees to "watch" the ceremony in memory of Jobs. It was unclear whether Apple shops in other parts of the world broke from business as usual to tune into the memorial. Local public health officials reportedly determined that Jobs was at home in the northern California city of Palo Alto on October 5 when he stopped breathing, an underlying cause listed as a cancerous tumor in his pancreas. Jobs was buried on in a local, non-denominational cemetery. His occupation was listed in the coroner's paperwork as "entrepreneur."