Clever blogger Charlie Hoehn put together this slideshow that depicts the homepage at Apple.com for the last 15 years. Ready for a trippy walk down memory lane?
What’s amazing, as Hoehn points out on his blog, is how little the basic layout of the page has changed since 1997 or so. The slideshow is about 140 screenshots showing almost every major change to Apple’s front page. That includes not only redesigns, but promotional updates as well. It’s pretty wild to scroll back and see promotional images and copy from product launches both big and small. Major stuff like the first iPhone, iPod, and iPad are included, of course. But you’ll also see less remembered stuff like the eMac, Motion, iPod Photo, Dashboard Widgets, and more.
Most historically significant are pages that mark major milestones such as the opening of the first Apple Retail Stores, a condolence note right after 9/11, and the passing of Steve Jobs. It’s also a commentary on how Apple’s corporate/promotional focus has shifted over the years. You’ll see things promoted on Apple’s homepage from years past that you’d never see there now. Stuff like Office for Mac, Adobe Creative Suite, a message to AOL users about iTunes compatibility, a call for signups to WWDC, and more.
Apple fans could easily measure their tenure among the faithful by how many of these front pages you recognize.
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