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Show Editorial FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2011 3 THE SIGNPOST The Signpost Viewpoint iSad: In remembrance of Steve Jobs By Kasey Van Dyke columnist I The Signpost I remember Christmas morning 2003. No. 1 on my wishlist was the new third-generation iPod Classic in white: four buttons, the revolutionary click-wheel with no mechanical moving parts, thinner and yet capable of holding thousands of songs in my pocket. My dad had cleverly hidden the small package, so it wasn't even under the tree. After we had opened what seemed to be all the presents - mostly clothes for me - I did my best to look grateful, but I'm sure he knew I was holding in disappointment. Finally, he had mercy on me and pulled out a small rectangular package. It felt solid in my hands, and heavier than I expected. I remember literally screaming when I tore off the red and green paper, exposing the clean picture of the thing I had coveted for so long: my first iPod. Since that Christmas, I've had four other iPods, an iPhone and a MacBook. I happily admit to being a Mac-head. Every day, I have to talk myself out of buying the new MacBook Air so I can actually pay for school. With that said, I have to express my sadness at the passing of Steve Jobs. At this point, it is no longer breaking news. But I wish to draw attention to the ramifica- Jobs was asked to return to the tions this could have for Apple brand. Within three years, he and its community of faithful gave us the first iPod. consumers. Some might reNotorious for pushing out member the Apple of the '90s. new versions of existing prodIt was a dying entity, more than ucts seemingly every week, no $1 million in debt and losing one can deny Jobs' and Apple's customers faster than Chuck- commitment to innovation. A-Rama after a food poisoning Many have even questioned whether his legacy will surpass scare. Jobs, a co-founder of Apple, that of Einstein. was pushed out by the comBut, without Jobs, what will pany's board of directors in happen to Apple? We've seen a the early '80s. He'd recently in- Jobs-less Apple before, and it troduced the new Macintosh nearly killed the company. Can personal computer, which cost Tim Cook fill those enormous nearly $3,000. After he left the shoes? Will Apple die with Jobs? company, Apple, which had I submit that it will not, but been a strong rival of the other only because of Steve Jobs. PC companies, fell into its dark It is thanks to his marketing ages. It wasn't until 1997 that strategy and the company's drive for newer, cleaner, better, faster products that have given Apple its staying power. There is a younger generation of Mac-heads who will keep the company alive. Enough of us are addicted to our iPhones, iPods, iPads, MacBooks and iTunes to keep Apple alive. It's hard to say Cook will have the same influence as Jobs, but the corporate giant will live on. I echo the words of President Barack Obama: "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." Comment on this column at wsusignpost.corn Abstract Academic Ate, 8onnA coo tiaorr iY mews Fish and columnists stink after three days Kory Wood ,\ u)ork fodetHer iinkibr• common 00110 jx • The Signpost columnist Recently, I've been watching River Monsters. Have you seen ot ma R NAL AS5641441(itKIN6 this show? It has all of the elements of successful TV: world travel, a classy, rugged host with a British accent, and producers who make people bob up and down in water like Captain Crunch while hungry fish swim around them. Jeremy Wade, the host of this show, is my hero. I want to be him. He's a biologist and an "extreme angler," which means he can casually flick his rod and bring an enormous fish into the boat. Usually, it's a fish that outweighs my Chevy Cavalier, which is even more terrifying when you consider that 65 percent of the fish's weight is in teeth. Wade skips into lakes that are infested with eels thicker than my thigh. He routinely wrestles with bull sharks like they're Shih Tzus. Most impressively, he once sat in a pool filled with piranha to demonstrate the important scientific principle that millions of people will do anything to watch a classy British guy sit in a pool with piranha. I want desperately to be like him. I want to casually throw on a khaki shirt and stick my hand into the gap-toothed mouth of a goliath tigerfish to get my hook back. I want to hop on a boat that runs down China's Yangtze River, then dive into the murky waters, looking for giant Chinese paddlefish. I want to engage a giant stingray in a battle of wills as I pry it from the river's floor with just a rod and reel. Alas, I am but a wimp, especially where water is concerned. In my worst nightmares, I'm left to float in vast expanses of water, and sundry scaled sea monsters and bloodthirsty beasties rise from the depths and nibble off my toes one by one. In fact, my three biggest fears are 1) floating in any body of water, 2) floating in any body of water and feeling a tentacle wrap around my leg, and 3) the same thing as No. 1, only I'm floating next to a cell phone salesman. I can remember going on a scouting trip to Flaming Gorge Reservoir a decade ago. The primary activities of this campout, as per the usual scouting demands, were jumping off enormous cliffs into water, eating chili, making jokes about what chili does to the human anatomy, sitting around and jumping off even more enormous cliffs into the water. I wasn't born with the gene that Say HELLO to us on twitter. makes teenagers want to destroy their own bodies, so I spent most of the cliff-jumping time out on the lake, fishing for smallmouth bass and lake trout. I spent hours bouncing rubber crawdads off the rocks and into the water, feeling the sharp tug of a fighting fish. Sitting there in the sun, listening to the lake lap up against its rocky borders, I felt that I had found my true calling. Toward the end of the week, our troop took a tour of the hydroelectric dam (insert "dam tour" joke here). I distinctly remember our (dam) tour guide gesturing toward a gigantic stuffed lake trout that was mounted in the middle of the (dam) visitors' center. This fish was pushing 100 pounds, and the elderly guide casually said that they'd found a boy scout in its stomach. A boy scout who had last been seen fishing. I had no way of proving or disproving his claims, but I haven't fished since. I can manage to get into a boat, but whenever I look over the edge, I just see a gigantic, toothy mouth rushing up at me from the depths, wanting nothing more than to seize me and drag me down into the inky, black, icy depths. And then, it tries to sell me a new phone. Comment on this column at wsusignpost.corn S• THE _cob_ 200t WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY t Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Photo Editor Business Editor Spencer Garn Stephanie Simonson Kasey Van Dyke Nathan Davis Bryan Butterfield Cole Spicker 626-7121 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-8071 626-7621 The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Options or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. I II itter.com Features Editor A&E Editor Copy Editor Adviser Ads Manager Office Manager Jerrica Archibald Kory Wood Alexandria Waltz Shane Farver Shelley Hart Georgia Edwards i npo t 626-7105 626-7624 626-7659 626-7526 626-6359 626-7974 The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. 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