World and business leaders have paid tribute to Apple co-founder¹ Steve Jobs, who has died at 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

世界各国领袖和商业领导纷纷缅怀苹果创始人史蒂夫·乔布斯，他在经历与胰腺癌漫长的斗争之后逝世。

US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said Mr Jobs had changed the world.

Microsoft's Bill Gates said it had been "an insanely（疯狂地） great honour" to work with him. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg remembered his "mentor² and friend".

The Twitter microblog site struggled to cope with the traffic of tributes.

Apple itself said Mr Jobs had been "the source of countless³ innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives" and had made the world "immeasurably better".

Thousands of celebrities⁴ and ordinary people went on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to record their tributes and memories of the man behind products such as the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad.

The death of Mr Jobs could create a record for Twitter traffic.

Thousands of people all over the world have also been attending Apple stores to leave flowers, notes, and apples with a bite taken from them to mimic⁵ the company's logo.

Apple's leading rivals such as Microsoft, Google, Sony and Samsung all chipped in with glowing tributes.

GS Choi, chief executive of Samsung, which is embroiled⁶ in（卷入） a major court battle with Apple on patents, said Mr Jobs was an "innovative⁷ spirit" who "introduced numerous revolutionary changes to the information technology industry".

In his statement, Bill Gates said: "The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour."

Mr Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook: "Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."

His comments were "liked" by more than 200,000 people within hours.

In his own tweet, Barack Obama wrote: "There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

Web users in China have reportedly posted almost 35 million online tributes.

Tim Cook, who was made Apple's CEO after Mr Jobs stood down in August, said his predecessor⁸ had left behind "a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple".

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Steve Jobs transformed the way we work and play; a creative genius who will be sorely missed."

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the US had "lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein".

News Corp's Rupert Murdoch said: "Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation."