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Steve Jobs appears at Palo Alto Apple store for iPad launch

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs made an appearance Saturday for the iPad launch, talking with customers and even giving a hands-on demo of the device at his company's Palo Alto, Calif., store

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.


Photo credit Cedric Lignier.

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:

Jony Ive
Photo credit Matt Galligan.



26 Comments

spoton 15 Years · 587 comments

I'm glad to see Steve out and mingling with his fans a little.

He has a new lease on life, his mission on bringing Apple back from the dead has succeeded and he should enjoy himself and his hard earned fame.

Love you Steve and Thanks!

chronster 16 Years · 1893 comments

LOL! It almost looks like Jobs is unnoticed in that photo. That's hilarious.

josephwinters 18 Years · 109 comments

Jobs is one thing, but seeing MR. Ive's out and about is definitely a rarity. I'm curious if he scurried away shortly after that public photo opp? If memory serves me right, he's more private that Jobs even. H

jetlaw 17 Years · 156 comments

Ive seems like a pretty cool guy. Heck of a sense of design in that one!

spoton 15 Years · 587 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by josephwinters

Jobs is one thing, but seeing MR. Ive's out and about is definitely a rarity. I'm curious if he scurried away shortly after that public photo opp? If memory serves me right, he's more private that Jobs even. H

He better soak up a little fame while he can, likely he won't be around when the cleaning of the house occurs after Steve retires.

He supposedly gets a $1 million a year from Apple, he should have enough to retire.

Not bad for a guy that used to design toilets, now you know why the white Mac's sell so well, it's that clean white ceramic look about them. (not a troll, it's the truth)