Over and over, he harkened to the success of Apple and the ease of use their products deliver. And how Apple controls every interaction with the company from retail to customer service with simplicity and satisfaction at the forefront. The idea Steve Jobs had from the company’s inception. An idea Apple owns today more so than any other company.

Cook kept emphasizing, almost pressing, the “post-PC” world. Never saying “personal computer.” Always saying “PC” as if to emphasize how much the rest of the computing world has forgotten about the personal side. The user. The interaction. The satisfaction.

Apple owns your user experience. From adoption to challenge. They own the magical window where users are won or lost. This is an understood fact of their success. Undoubtedly.

So I thought, how does traditional media fit into the “post-PC” world?

Ask someone about the thought of curling up with a thick Sunday edition of their favorite newspaper. Perhaps it’s raining. Perhaps they remember sitting in a window seat watching the traffic go by between stories. These people are harder and harder to find as generations grow younger. Yet, the hint of nostalgia is still there. Even if someone has never had this experience they can relate to it. They can, perhaps, remember or imagine their parents doing this.

Now, we curl up with an iPad. But we don’t simply read. We watch. We interact. A device has replaced something we held dearly for maybe a few hours before tossing it away without a thought. No one would ever think of doing this with an iPad. Why?

Apple has created the device. The product. Why it is successful however, is because the control the experience. The experience around every aspect of that device from purchase to upgrade. Have you ever seen someone break or lose their iPad, iPod, iPhone? They hurt with true emotion. Not because they are so connected to a physical piece of glass, plastic, metal and wires. They are connected to the experience. They had a relationship with the device. A relationship they formed through the experience they shared.

Will newspapers create the next iPad? No. Can they create the next best experience? Absolutely.

Focus on the rainy day, Sunday edition, window seat news experience. An iPad can never replicate the smell of fresh ink.

In that time, I’ve developed as a designer, web developer, journalist, writer, editor, but most of all as a person. The knowledge I have gained from my colleagues is immeasurable. I will miss them all dearly. Luckily, I’m staying in the family. On Monday I will begin my new job at Gannett corporate as a Web developer/designer for ContentOne. I’ll post a few updates as I settle in there.

I’m not one for sappy notes or lengthy ones. With that said, so long and thanks for all the fish.