Apple Customers Pay Homage to Steve Jobs at Tysons Apple Store

UPDATE Sunday Oct. 9: Messages of thanks to Steve Jobs now cover much of the entrance to the Apple store in Tysons Corner. The messages are written on Post-it notes, thoughtfully provided by the Apple Store. Many of the messages are in Arabic.

To read the full text of the highly personal commencement speech to Stanford that Jobs delivered in 2005 click here.

ORIGINAL STORY: Visitors streamed into the Tysons Corner Apple store on Thursday, weaving their way through a sea of reporters and cameras.  Flowers and cards gathered outside the store, one of the two original stores that Apple opened.

  The other store is in Glendale, California.  Both stores opened the same day in May 2001.  There are now more than 300 Apple stores worldwide. 

Vienna resident Bannon Wysocki learned of Jobs' death on Twitter Wednesday night. He immediately turned on CNN to hear Anderson Cooper and others discussing Jobs' death. 

"I was sad but not shocked," Wysocki said. "I knew he was sick.  I respect the guy for who he was. You have to respect that kind of genius."  Wysocki, who had always been a self-described "PC guy," purchased a Mac about two and a half years ago. 

Since then he has been hooked.  Now he and his entire family have ipods.Wysocki was one of many who changed his facebook status yesterday in honor of Jobs' death. 

"He changed the way people worked and socialized," Wysocki said.

Apple employes were not allowed to comment on the passing of their leader.

One gentleman, who preferred to remain anonymous, carried flowers into the store and hand-delivered them to waiting employees.  "I can't comment," he said.  "I'm a Microsoft employee. But I brought flowers because he's a great man." 

Helen Cummings, a high school junior from McLean, and her father Ogden Cummings visited the Apple store to buy an ipad for Helen's mother. 

"He was a pop culture icon," she said.  "He wasn't just a regular CEO. All of my friends are very impacted by him." 

Helen and her friends appreciate his contributions to social networking and itunes.  "He turned the computer into something elegant and sleek," she said. 

And she emphasized that, with all due respect toward him, she changed her facebook status today to read "Steve Jobs, may you rest in peace in your icoffin."

Helen's father, Ogden Cummings, credits Jobs for popularizing the PC, which many call one of his greatest achievements.  "He expanded what you can do with a computer, as more than just an efficient appliance." 

Kelly Romero was online last night pre-ordering the new iphone 4S when she heard the news of Jobs' death.  "It was shocking.  I didn't know he was so sick," she said. 

Kelly and her mother Jacqueline Romero, both from Springfield, were visiting the Tysons store on Thursday.  "We all have iphones. I have a Mac," Kelly said.  "The technology has improved, and my parents' businesses have improved," she said.  Kelly's mother Jacqueline is a realtor, and her father is a painter. 

"I would be lost without my phone," said her mom Jacqueline.  The Romero's visited the store when it was brand new in 2001, and now they stop in whenever they are in Tysons Corner.  "We lost a great person," said Jacqueline.  "Think of what he could have created. He could have created something even greater."

Occoquan resident, William Rothwelo: "I'm not a big tech guy," he said.  "But I can't live without my iphone or my ipad...both in business and personally."  Rothwelo believes that Jobs shared his leadership skills and abilities enough to ensure the future success of the company.  "I don't think he is replaceable," he said.  "But what he left behind will be able to continue to strengthen the company."

Many of Thursday's visitors to this first Apple store said that they will miss the genius of Steve Jobs. One fan wrote on a card left outside of the store: "Steve, you changed my life.  I love you forever."