Website Review: Apple Computer
Reviewed by EVula
Apple's website is, of course, the home for any Macintosh user, myself included. Not only is it the "official" website for the Mac community, but is also the company's main way of selling computers. Here is the breakdown of the site.
Website navigation is nice and clean: there is a bar across the top that has main links to the below sections. Each section has a different sub-bar below it, with further information in each category (ie: the Store's sub navigation is "Your Account", "View Current Order", etc.).
Main Site
This section is just what you think it is: the bulk of the page. On the front page, you've got a large random graphic, advertising different things at different time (right now, its got a thing on OS 10.1, since it just came out). Under that, it has a Headlines link which shows half a dozen or so news reports that have to do with Apple.
Below the news are 4 different panels, each advertising something wonderful, but not wonderful enough to be a large graphic. Currently, its advertising the new price for the PowerBook G4, new Apple Stores, Mac OS X Server v10.1, and a Red Cross link.
Below that is all of the misc crap you'd expect: a search field, contact information, and a menu to select the Apple website for different countries.
Store
The Apple Store is, by far, the best organized online shopping site I've ever seen. They have only 4 main products: the iMac, the PowerMac G4, the iBook, and the PowerBook G4. Those are nice, big, obvious links. Below it are other stuff that isn't as important as the big 4: Accessories, Apple Software, Servers, and Select Software. At the bottom, they have misc links to different special things (ie: upgrading QuickTime, directions to Apple Stores). Also, there is another menu to select the Apple Store for a different country.
Along the side there are a bunch of special offers and discounts, out of the way so you aren't being swarmed with useless deals, but obvious enough so that they aren't trying to hide money-saving deals from customers.
iTools / iCards
iTools is a great little service for new computer users. Seasoned Mac veterans, such as myself, probably won't mess with it much, other than iDisk (online disk space, hosted by Apple, that you can access from any Mac with OS 9 or above).
iCards is lame-ass "feature" of iTools, it just happens to have its own little button. *shrug*
QuickTime
This section is all about Apple's multimedia format, QuickTime. Here, you can download movie trailers, see music videos, and check out QuickTime TV. They have a link to Apple TV ads, too. You can also, of course, download QuickTime from here.
Support
This is Apple's rather extensive support section. However, it has been my experience that trying to find solutions to my problems is harder than it should be. I keep getting stupid answers to my questions; however, this is just the way that automated tech support "works", so I'm not going to hold it against them.
Mac OS X
The is the "official home" for Apple's newest OS version. Only listed as its own section because its a huge marketing tool. I like the OS, but that doesn't make that link a tool. :)
Alright, I'm almost done, but before I finish, I'd like to add something: after the September 11 attack, Apple closed down all of the ads on their website's front page. It merely had a message that the attack was bad, and that everyone should contact the Red Cross to see what they could do. They had NO ads talking about OS X, nothing about G4 deals, nothing. They knew where to draw the line, and they knew that human life was more important then peddling a computer. I applaud that.
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