Mass. Tech Community Mourns Steve Jobs

Members of the Massachusetts tech community remembered Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died Wednesday night at the age of 56, as someone who inspired and challenged them.

Greg Raiz, head of Brookline mobile apps developer Raiz Labs, says Jobs had a huge impact on everyday life, through Apple's iPhone, iPod and Mac computers.

"My company was built through a lot of the technology that he invented and brought to bear," Raiz said.

Jobs inspired many people to dream big, Raiz said, and many credit Jobs and the products he designed for inspiring them to think creatively.

"The way he looked at them not from the perspective of an engineer but from the perspective of a user liberated, by now, two generations to be creators — whether that's art, or film, or writing, or photography," said Edward Boches, chief innovation officer at the Boston-based advertising agency Mullen.

Mourners left flowers and notes outside Boston's Apple Store as tributes to the way Jobs affected their lives.

"Could you ever imagine a CEO or business leader of any kind of company, of any size or stature, dying or passing away and getting that kind of reaction?" Boches asked.

Despite his death, Raiz says that Jobs will live on in the minds of his fans and in his products.

"I think his legacy will be not just the technology he leaves behind and the inventions, but the passion of all the individuals who look up to him as a tech hero, as someone who really innovated," Raiz said. "People are going to try to do things the way that he did them."

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