Steve Jobs has stepped down from his pulpit. Now, followers of the 'Cult of Mac' are contemplating a world without their charismatic leader.

Investors took news of Mr. Jobs' departure in stride, pushing Apple shares down less than one percent in Thursday trading. And across the technology and business worlds, Mr. Jobs continued to receive plaudits for his innovative role in modern business. Even competitors from the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. lined up to sing his praises.

The most ferventdevotion still rests with Apple's devotees, often called 'fanboys,' who have provided a sales base to see the company through its darkest hour of near bankruptcy to become one of the world's most valuable companies. They have served as a core of early adopters who, with often evangelical fervor, helped ignite interest in Apple products.

For many, devotion to Apple Inc. products has come with a special reverence for Mr. Jobs, who founded the company in 1976. While in elementary school, enthusiast Allen Paltrow posted a photo of Mr. Jobs on his wall. 'He was the first celebrity of any type that I could recognize,' said Mr. Paltrow, now 19 years old.

When he was 10, Mr. Paltrow sent Mr. Jobs an impassioned email about how much he loved Apple products that earned his family a tour of the company's headquarters. His parents let him buy $800 of Apple stock. He began shaving an Apple logo into the back of his head.

In 2006, at the grand opening of an Apple store on New York's Fifth Avenue, Mr. Paltrow met Mr. Jobs in person. 'I shook his hand and didn't wash it for a long time,' said Mr. Paltrow, who is now a sophomore at Princeton studying computer science.

The comparisons between Apple and a religion began as early as 1994, when Italian scholar Umberto Eco wrote a humorous essay in which he compared Apple to the Catholic church