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Jobs resignation too soon for Apple shoppers

Shoppers at Apple stores in New York and San Francisco said Jobs' recent public appearances led them to believe he might be return to work full time.

Greg Sandoval Former Staff writer
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. Based in New York, Sandoval is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg, or follow him on Twitter at @sandoCNET.
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Laura Locke
Laura Locke is a senior writer for CNET, covering social media, emerging trends, and start-ups. Prior to joining CNET, she contributed extensively to Time and Time.com for much of the past decade.
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Greg Sandoval
Laura Locke
2 min read

NEW YORK--Over and over in interviews, shoppers at Apple's flagship store here, commonly known as The Cube, repeated the same question.

Apple's 5th Ave store in New York this evening.

Why now?

"You know, I thought we had some more time (with Steve Jobs as Apple CEO)," Shahean Talebreza, 40, from Los Angeles told CNET after walking out of Apple's 5th Avenue store this evening. "We all knew this day could come. He's been ill, but I'm surprised he's leaving now."

Jobs resigned as CEO today, ending one of the most accomplished and storied CEO tenures in Silicon Valley's history. He will remain with Apple as chairman.

Talebreza, who said his love affair with Apple products goes back to the original Macintosh computer, said Jobs' recent appearance at Apple's annual developer's conference on June 6 encouraged him to believe that the CEO and Apple co-founder might return to work full time.

"I'm not really all that surprised it's happening," said Louis Littman, 24. "But I thought it would come later."

Not surprisingly, most of those coming out of Apple's stores in New York and San Francisco are Apple fans who expressed confidence that Jobs' replacement, Tim Cook, can keep the company operating as before.

"We wish (Jobs) well," said Tom Kaminsky, from Phoenix, Ariz., who was shopping at Apple's San Francisco store this evening. "But I do think he's done a great job to do succession planning. We're still a big believer in Apple and we'll continue to support it."

Not everyone had a longtime relationship with Apple, however. Samantha Leslie, 26, who works in the advertising sector in New York said during a New York subway trip that she bought her first Apple product only several months ago when she purchased an iPhone.

She praised Jobs for not only building a brand for Apple but for building one for himself. She said the public associates his name with excellence. Nonetheless, she said his departure won't keep her from buying Apple products in the future.

"The buck stops with Steve Jobs," Leslie said, "but this company will go on."