SAN FRANCISCO: Apple founder Steve Job lost the battle to pancreatic cancer Thursday with the company he created and led for decades announcing his death in a brief statement.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," the company's board of directors said in a statement.
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."
Jobs who was 56 years old, died peacefully said his family.
He is survived by his wife Laurene, with whom he had three children.
The passing of Steve Jobs left people around the world "iSad" on Thursday, with countless mourners typing out their grief on the handheld Apple gadgets that have transformed modern life.
Tributes poured in from notables from US President Barack Obama to Bill Gates, but it was the scale of the outpouring from ordinary people around the world, hammering out characters on Jobs's own inventions, that was staggering.
As word spread that Jobs had died of cancer at the age of 56, messages tagged "iSad" and "RIP Steve Jobs" joined other references to the Apple co-founder among the hottest topics at Twitter.
Others made their way to state-of-the-art Apple retail stores, another user-friendly innovation pioneered by Jobs.
In Tokyo, employees observed a silent prayer before opening the doors to customers on Thursday.
And in front of an Apple store in Manhattan, Gregory Littley placed two roses and a candle on the sidewalk next to his iPhone, with "We will miss you Steve Jobs" typed on its touchscreen.
By nightfall in California, thousands of people at global social network Facebook had signed up to take part in an unofficial Steve Jobs Day planned for October 14.
A stevejobsday2011.com website devoted to the event invited people to dress up as the Apple co-founder or talk about him, whether at real-world gatherings or at online venues such as Facebook and Twitter.
"We love what he's brought to the world," said a message at the website, which is dominated by a color portrait of Jobs.
"Let's take a day to honor the man...Everyone around the world is invited to participate," it continued.
A Facebook page devoted to the event explained that it was planned when Jobs stepped down as Apple chief executive in August for health reasons and was not intended to be a memorial.
Intended or not, the Jobs Day Facebook comment forum was flooded with remembrances and adoration for the visionary behind iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macintosh computers.
"People often asked me what is it about Apple that makes you so crazy,"Facebook member Pallav Desai wrote on the page.
"I say it was more than a product - it was a fight of a person who battled cancer; who was thrown out of his company, and STILL came back and showed the world iWAS iAM & iWILL change the world!"
