Thank you Steve, forever, says Gen-Now

NEW DELHI, INDIA: For millions across the country, logging on to their iPads or iPhones will always bring back memories of the man who rattled the tech space with his gadgets. India's GenNow Thursday reacted with condolence messages and odes for Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs who died after prolonged illness in the US.

"Even though Indians were late to get into the groove created by Apple gadgets such as iPod, iPad and iPhone, the revolution could be felt. It was like being in a different technological era. We can't have another Steve Jobs again," Ayush Gogoi, a student of Hansraj College in Delhi University, told IANS.

Schoolgoer Samarth Gupta said, "The czar of Silicon Valley is no more. The coming generation will be more tech savvy, and we are surely going to miss him."

Jobs, 56, who had been battling cancer for years and died Wednesday, spearheaded the concept of a personal computer and of navigating them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse to lead a cultural transformation in the digital age.

The virtual world a click away on their mobile phones or tablets, Indian youthA identified Apple with Jobs, with many speculating whether the company would be able to bring out more revolutionary gadgets after his demise.

"No other company has been able to even go an inch closer to what Apple gave under Steve. He has been iconic…Jobs was a wizard and to fill his void in Apple could be tough," said 25-year-old Manish Bajaj, who got his first Iphone from the US.

Indian Internet users were sad to hear about the death as blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other websites were flooded with messages for Apple co-founder.

'R.I.P Steve Jobs', 'Miss you Legend Steve', 'Thank you, Steve' were just some of the status messages and hashtags that had swarmed the web even as Facebook alone had over 25 'RIP Steve Jobs' fan pages created within 12 hours of the visionary's demise.

The country has 52 million Internet users, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India. Of the 635 million mobile phone subscribers in India, more than 16 million access the Internet on their phone, according to Facebook.

The tech-savvy GenNow identified with Jobs for not just what he brought out to the world but also his struggle to pioneer the mobile-computing revolution.

Dhruvika Ganguly, 25, quoted Jobs on Facebook: "R.IP Steve. These lines shall always remain etched in our minds: 'Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. - STEVE JOBS."