Chicago mourns Apple CEO Steve Jobs

October 6, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Memorials are growing outside of Apple Stores in the Chicago area as students of the digital arts talk about Steve Jobs' legacy- and Apple's future.

As the main tool for students at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, a media arts school in Chicago, Mac computers are everywhere.

"It's my life. That's what I do every day. I think it's a huge influence," Jagoda Jurewicz, student, said.

Howard Tullman, the president and CEO of Tribeca, met Steve Jobs in 1991. The two were acquaintances and kept in touch over the years.

"Steve took no prisoners. He was passionate. He believed that you should try as hard as you could," Tullman said.

Tullman brought that attitude to the Academy, where Mac is the launching pad for dozens of new programs.

"We think that every experience now can be enhanced and expanded...we have the ability to do augmented reality. We have the ability to be connected constantly and this is going to change everything," Tullman said.

Fifty percent of the school's computers are Macs.

"To me as an educator and a creative artist, that's what's so exciting about what he brought to the world - it doesn't have to be dry, boring, text technology. It can be this very fun, very engaging active tool," said Paula Froehle, academic dean, Tribeca Flashpoint Academy.

Tools that Jobs created. Tools that have sparked the creative spirit in the next generation. And, like Jobs, they're fearless.

"You need to fail in order to learn. At Tribeca, we put our passion into what we're doing because we love it....just like Steve Jobs did with his products," Vincent Bolger, Tribeca Flashpoint student.

Lessons and a legacy Steve Jobs left behind - in one corner of Chicago.

Memorials grow outside Apple Stores

His creations are used by millions of people, and fans of those products are paying tribute.

People say he changed their lives with the technology he created, and Apple lovers are not shy about the way they feel. At Chicago's Michigan Avenue store, people have been leaving candles and flowers. Apple's website simply shows a picture of the company's co-founder, the driving force behind one innovative after another. At Apple, Steve Jobs changed how people connect with the world, listen to music and communicate.

Memorials for the Apple cofounder has been popping up across the city. A simple "R.I.P. Steve Jobs" was written on a Post-it note, stuck on the window of the North Avenue store where Apple customers were mourning.

"He had a tough battle, but I was sad to hear it. Things like this happen though. It was too soon," said Ian Firestone.

The apple faithful seemed to be immortalizing the fallen inventor, like they would a rock star. Tech experts say his contribution to the world is immeasurable.

"He's opened the world of technology. He opened our minds, our hearts really. And by taking a bite out of that apple, we learned an awful lot about technology and ourselves," said tech expert John Dallas.

Jobs battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009. In January, he took a leave of absence from the company, and in late August, just six weeks before his death, he announced his resignation from the company he created.

In a statement, President Barack Obama says the world lost a visionary. There may be no greater tribute to Jobs' success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented, the iPhone.

People at one Apple store in Chicago reflected on jobs' impact on the world.

"I think Steve's legacy most likely will be the fact that he integrated technology with regular everyday life," said customer Nick Johnson.

"I think that because of him, he drove the industry. His vision, people he had working for him, and I'm really sad to hear him go," said customer Josh Dunlop.

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