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Apple.com (2004)

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Re: Apple.com (2004)

#11

Post by SemanticCoder »

Edmond wrote: post #7
Garmonidas wrote: post #5

It's more shocking see how Samsung was 7 years ago ( https://web.archive.org/web/20070222044411/http://www.samsun... ) and now ( http://www.samsung.com ). Evolving from refrigerators to smartphones!

it may well come back to refrigerators once the "internet of things" takes hold, except this time it would be your smartphone talking to your refrigerator and vice-verse :)

It's still pretty much about refrigerators, washing machines and cameras. Just the US site is different from the rest of the world. Their German site for example clearly advertises washing machines and refrigerators on the front page: http://www.samsung.com/de .

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#13

Post by cleaver »

skyebook wrote: post #9

It's kind of interesting how that G5 ad on the front page has a testimonial about freeing you from the chains of Intel and MS. Apple was was probably right in the middle of getting 10.4 ready to run on Intel at this point

I remember scratching my head at the numbers from Apple... The PowerPC chips were four times faster than Intel (or some such number). Then they released on Intel and it became twice as fast. (Of course, this might have been somewhat accurate if PowerPC did not gain performance at the same rate over the years. Still worth a chuckle, though.)

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#15

Post by rayiner »

antonius wrote: post #6

The change in technology and "coolness" is staggering. I remember buying the white 20GB iPod with the scroll wheel and being the coolest kid in high school. Looking at it now and it looks painfully outdated and ugly (IMO).

The word you're looking for is "fashion."

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#16

Post by kzrdude »

dkyc wrote: post #8
robinhoodexe wrote: post #3

"Introducing iLife '04 - it's like Microsoft Office for the rest of your life" I nearly pissed myself in laughter.

Can you explain this line to me? I somehow don't get it.

If MS Office is a suite of programs that you use in the office, iLife would be "for the rest of your life" = free time, that is, Photos, Music (Listening + Arranging), and more(?)

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#17

Post by zafiro17 »

That lampshade imac was one of the coolest bits of hardware ever. I find it more interesting than the new "trashcan" model. I had a friend with a lampshade imac and I was very envious. It still seems more useful to me than the new all in one macs where you basically can't service anything. The lampshade was a good compromise.

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#18

Post by pekk »

Not so different from Apple in the late 90s. And it kept struggling to find its stride until the iPhone. Let's have some context.

1993, Apple Newton

1994, IBM Simon

1996, PalmPilot/PalmOS

1996, Apple Pippin game console

1998, iMac

1998-2000, tons of MP3 players

2000, Microsoft Pocket PC/Windows CE

2001, Microsoft's tablet PCs

2001, iPod

2001, OS X

2002, Pocket PC smartphones

2002, BlackBerry

(I included a few flops to show that this wasn't a God-given destiny but an iterative search process...)

So as of 2004:

* PDAs are an established market but mostly limited to business. The functionality will only take off in smartphones, which are really just PDA-phones

* iPod has gobbled up the pre-existing MP3 player market in a way that prefigures iPhone, with a decent device and very good marketing

* Smartphones are just getting taken up in 2004, as an outgrowth of the PDA market. It'll be 5 years before iPhone hits a pre-existing smartphone market with a decent device, very good marketing and "app store"

* Tablet PCs are bombing, largely because nobody understands or wants the form factor yet

Near future after 2004: transition to Intel 2005-2007ish, MacBook Pro and MacBook 2006, iPhone 2007, Android 2007, MacBook Air 2008, iPad 2010.

and consider the contribution of economic downturns/booms to the timing of products which did well

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#19

Post by iambateman »

chaz wrote: post #10
k-mcgrady wrote: post #2

The navigation bar is the most interesting part I think: - Store - iPod + iTunes - .Mac - Quicktime .Mac and Quicktime were actually two of the most prominently featured products on Apple.com. Wow. iPod and iTunes have stuck around but are now treated separately probably due to the variety of content available on iTunes (apps, books, movies, games). I find it strange that Mac's aren't featured on the 2004 navigation…

Navbars are a great way to get a sense of the company's priorities, generally influenced by the biggest money makers. Amazon's navbar in 2004: https://web.archive.org/web/20041102060756/http://www.amazon... . Books, clothing, electronics, toys/games, music, phones. Today, it's streaming video, streaming music, ["streamed"] ebooks, Kindles, apps ... and then (separated by a horizontal bar) Books / Audible (still plugg…

Or what they want to be money makers.

Re: Apple.com (2004)

#20

Post by pekk »

rayiner wrote: post #15
antonius wrote: post #6

The change in technology and "coolness" is staggering. I remember buying the white 20GB iPod with the scroll wheel and being the coolest kid in high school. Looking at it now and it looks painfully outdated and ugly (IMO).

The word you're looking for is "fashion."

Fashion is something Apple is good at.
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