Steve Jobs mourned at London Apple Store vigils

Numerous Apple fans visited London's Apple Stores today to pay their respects to Steve Jobs, who died early this morning.

Two bouquets of roses had been left near the front doors of Apple's Covent Garden store. There was no card, but the couple who had left them explained to us they had been long-time fans of Apple's products and great admirers of Jobs.

"The ease of use [of Apple's products] has had such a positive impact on our lives so we wanted to leave a thank you for Steve. We think Apple will continue to do well and we will still be happy to buy their things."

There weren't many people at the Covent Garden store -- possibly because it was still rather early in the morning. A busier scene was unfolding at Apple's Regent Street store, however, where numerous bouquets of flowers as well as cards and even apples -- with the trademark bite taken out of them -- had been left just outside the front door. The mood was sombre as people knelt around the site, laying down their offerings.

"It's good that people are showing their respect and gratitude for Steve," said one visitor to the site, "He's an absolute genius -- you won't find somebody else like him. Will Apple change? That's difficult..."

The atmosphere was certainly one of sadness and of mourning, but various passers-by voiced concerns over the future of the company, doubting its ability to remain at the top without such an iconic figurehead.

"I'm not even a big Apple fan," another visitor told us, "The thing is, when I'm sitting at home surrounded by Apple gadgets, you can't escape him. That's what he did. He is Apple. He definitely made my life happier."

At times, there were upwards of 50 or 60 people gathered on the pavement -- although being such a high-profile spot in central London, it was difficult to know who was a genuine mourner and who was simply a curious tourist rubbernecking. It wasn't continually busy by any means, but there was always a steady stream of people passing by and taking in the scene.

Apple stores in the US have had similar -- albeit rather bigger -- vigils taking place outside their doors and it's likely these will continue for a while at least.