Off message and late - Last Thursday I was rushing to a pension trustee meeting in central London when I noticed a crowd and TV cameras gathered outside the Apple Store in Regent Street. The Co-founder and former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs had just died of cancer aged 56. Some of the people standing outside did seem genuinely upsetI must admit to being slightly bewildered at such emotion being shown to someone who must have been a total stranger to these people. It is an absolute tragedy to the family and friends of Mr Jobs (who was no doubt a brilliant man) that he should die at such a relatively young age and a loss to the Company and its employees but......maybe it is because I have never owned or used an Apple product and cannot imagine for a moment being so moved, as to place flowers outside a Microsoft establishment upon hearing of the no doubt sad demise of Mr Gates.
