Steve Jobs appears at Palo Alto Apple store for iPad launch

As first reported by Cult of Mac, Twitter user Cedric Lignier spotted Jobs at the store wearing blue jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie sweater over his trademark mock turtleneck. Jobs reportedly showed a little girl how to use the iPad, and Lignier said he believed the girl might have been Jobs' daughter.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Jobs arrived at the University Avenue store shortly before noon, causing a great deal of interest among the patrons there.

"Many in the crowd pulled out cameras and iPhones to capture the most magic of Silicon Valley moments," the report said. "Jobs chatted with a handful of other shoppers, but even his 30-minute invasion did not get in the way of their serious business — the buying of and playing with new iPads."

Jobs has been seen at that location before, which is just 20 minutes from Apple's campus at 1 Infinite Loop. When the iPhone first launched in 2007, Jobs appeared and spoke with programmers Andy Hertzfeld and Bill Atkinson.

Early this year it was reported that Apple plans to build a new prototype store in Palo Alto, which could signal the closing of the existing store. First opened in October 2001, the University Avenue location was just the ninth retail outfit built by Apple and the first street-level Apple store.

Also on launch day, Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design, was spotted at Apple's San Francisco store. Cult of Mac noted that although the Stockton Street location was a "mob and media frenzy," few noticed Ive, though one iPad buyer did snap this photo with him: