Apple’s mystique may grow with Steve Jobs’ death

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In the end, Steve Jobs left the world to his own devices.

As macabre as it might seem, Jobs‘ death Wednesday will only add to the Apple mystique _ and profit. The iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac will, no doubt, get a sales boost as consumers pay the ultimate tribute to one of America’s creative geniuses.

That could be especially true for the latest iPhone, scheduled to go on sale Oct. 14. The lines were going to be long anyway, but now there are bound to be even more people clambering for the iPhone 4S _ the last device to be unveiled while Jobs was alive.

It’s a commercial phenomenon that has happened many times before, most recently when Michael Jackson’s album and song sales rocketed after the pop singer died in 2009.

“Steve Jobs was a rock star, someone on the scale of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison,” said Steven Osinski, a marketing professor at San Diego State University. “I think it’s very likely there is going to be an upsurge in Apple’s sales for a while.”

Anything designed by revered figures invariably become hotter commodities after their death, said Michael Bernacchi, a marketing professor at the University of Detroit Mercy.

“These products have significant emotional value, they have sentimental value, they’re connected, if you will, to the bloodstream of the person who’s likely to be the purchaser,” Bernacchi said. “There’s a certain nostalgic value attached to that.

“Mr. Jobs really continues to exist in a much different manner through these products,” Bernacchi said.

It can’t hurt that many of Apple’s 357 stores already have turned into shrines, attracting people who want to mourn together. It’s not hard to imagine some of them wandering into the stores and buying an iPad or Mac.

Consider the scene Thursday at Apple’s San Francisco store.

A memorial of flowers lined the sidewalk and handwritten notes were plastered on the window. One note read: “You made the world a better place.” Another proclaimed “hungry and foolish 4 ever,” a nod to one of Jobs‘ favorite sayings.

Inside the store, it was business as usual. Upbeat rock-and-roll music played, and shoppers clustered around the iPad display.

Javier Martinez, a medical doctor vacationing from Spain, passed by and snapped pictures of the scene with his iPhone 4. Although he has no immediate plans to buy the new version, he is committed to continue buying the products that are a testament to Jobs‘ genius.

“He’s dead, but his soul is alive,” Martinez said. “He was the soul of an idea for many people who want to do things better, differently.”

Investors believe it will remain business as usual at Apple. Apple Inc. shares dipped only slightly on the first day of trading after this death, down 88 cents Thursday to $377.37.

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